3 Arrested In AR Prison Escape Plan

Little Rock - Authorities say they arrested three people suspected of leaving a car for two convicted killers who escaped from a high-security prison in Grady by putting on jail guard uniforms that are made at the facility.

Arkansas State Police Spokesman Bill Sadler said Tuesday that police arrested Deana Davison and Ryan McKinney, both of Little Rock, and Michael Stephenson of Jacksonville. The three were arrested and charged Saturday with furnishing an implement for escape, a felony, Sadler said.

Jeffrey Grinder and Calvin Adams escaped Friday evening from the Cummins Unit. They were spotted in the Missouri Bootheel on Saturday, but later seen in Michigan, authorities said.

Sadler would not say if police believe others may have helped the killers escape the unit.

"I can tell you that there is a continuing investigation that is including interviews with other individuals," Sadler said.

McKinney and Stephenson were both being held at the Lincoln County jail on $50,000 bond. Bond had been set at $25,000 for Davison, who was taken to the Jefferson County jail. There was no answer at the Jefferson County jail Tuesday morning.

Five Correction Department officers have been put on unpaid leave while the department investigates the escape. The five officers have not been identified, but a spokeswoman for the department has said they had been guarding the entry and exit points of the prison

Among the jobs for inmates at the Cummins Unit is making uniforms for jail guards and law officers. Video surveillance shows the men put the uniforms on in the prison library after the 6 p.m. headcount and walked out of the prison unchallenged during a shift change less than 20 minutes later, Tyler said.

Grinder and Adams drove away in a car that was left for them.

Correction Department spokeswoman Dina Tyler said the men were spotted northwest of Kalamazoo. Adams has relatives in Michigan, including his mother, but Tyler said it wasn't his mother who reported seeing the fugitives.

Officers in Michigan searched an area and tracking dogs picked up a scent, which they lost at a paved road.

Grinder, 32, and Adams, 39, were each convicted of capital murder and were serving life sentences without parole.

Tyler said Tuesday that none of three arrested were current or former Correction Department employees. She said the department's investigation into how the escape occurred was continuing.

Tyler says the men were spotted Saturday in two southeast Missouri communities, Hayti and Braggadocio.

Grinder and Adams are believed to be traveling together.

Tyler said the department is investigating how the inmates obtained the uniforms and were able to leave the prison without anyone noticing something was amiss.

Tyler said that inmates who work in the garment factory are searched upon entering and leaving the building, which is separate from the prison facility.

Adams is from Leachville and was convicted of capital murder in 1995 in the 1994 kidnapping and shooting death of banker Richard Austin, 25. Austin's wife was wounded and was able to walk more than a mile for help. Grinder is from Yellville and was convicted of capital murder, aggravated robbery and burglary in the 2003 beating death of Pat Gardner, 77, who lived near Springdale.

Gov. Mike Beebe on Monday called the escape "inexcusable" and said he was waiting on the department's investigation on how it occurred. He said he was sure there would be some ramifications.

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Associated Press Writer Chuck Bartels contributed to this report.