Law officers search for escaped prisoners

MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) Law officers used tracking dogs and set up roadblocks on the ground and an Oklahoma Highway Patrol airplane searched the skies, but they still hadn't found two men who fled from

Tuesday, January 16th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) Law officers used tracking dogs and set up roadblocks on the ground and an Oklahoma Highway Patrol airplane searched the skies, but they still hadn't found two men who fled from Oklahoma State Penitentiary's most secure unit.

Officials discovered James Robert Thomas and Willie Lee Hoffman missing about 5 a.m. Monday from OSP's high-security H Unit.

McAlester police allege Thomas, 25, and Hoffman, 21, accosted two women at a recreation club, robbed them of $65 and stole a car. The men were armed with a knife, and one discussed taking one of the women hostage, police spokeswoman Janet Burns said.

``The other one talked him out of it,'' Burns said. ``These ladies were very lucky.''

The escape marked the first from the unit, a concrete structure that opened in 1991. It houses almost 300 of the prison system's most violent criminals.

A preliminary investigation indicated that the inmates removed toilets from the back of their cells, giving them access to a maintenance crawl space behind the wall, OSP spokeswoman Lee Mann said. They crawled through an air duct, made their way to the roof and finally reached the ground, she said.

``They climbed over two fences and were gone,'' Mann said.

A third inmate, identified as 28-year-old Nathan Washington, tried to escape but got caught in razor wire between the two fences, Mann said. Washington was serving time on a robbery conviction.

Prison officials believe that Thomas, who raped and murdered an 81-year-old woman in 1993, and Hoffman, serving time for kidnapping, could be dangerous and desperate.

``We're mainly interested in the public being very vigilant and cautious,'' Mann said.

Officials believe the pair stole a white 1995 Oldsmobile with a maroon stripe and Oklahoma license plate PIJ-074.

The escapees were hiding under a trampoline when the two women went inside the Boys and Girls Gymnastic Club to exercise before 9 a.m. Monday, Burns said. The building is located about two miles from the penitentiary.

Janice Crews, who lives west of the club, said her daughter, who was home at the time, was terrified when she heard the report on a police scanner.

``I told her to get in the car and leave the house, or lock the doors and not answer for anybody,'' said Crews, who was at work.

John Brewer, who lives east of the prison, said he was feeding his horses about 6:15 a.m. when two sheriffs' cars stopped and asked if he'd seen the inmates, who apparently had just run through his yard.

``I'm not really sure I want to go home,'' Brewer said while at a McAlester convenience store.

Before accosting the women, the inmates allegedly tried to steal a truck near the prison, but the truck died, Burns said.

``We know for sure that it was them that tried to take that truck,'' she said.