Two men used a toothbrush to pick a cell door lock to escape from the Logan County jail this week, Sheriff Boyd Hicks said Thursday.
Sheriff's deputies and officials with other agencies continued to search Thursday in a 2-mile radius of the jail on Paris' west side for one of the two inmates who escaped about 4 a.m. Tuesday, Hicks said.
The two men, Shaun Higham, 45, and Zachary Coffer, 19, were being held in a protective-custody cell because of a lack of jail space to properly separate pretrial from post-trial inmates, Hicks said.
The sheriff said security camera video showed Higham had reached out of the cell door through the slot used to pass meals to inmates and picked the lock using the toothbrush. He said that while officials could see from the video that he used the toothbrush, they were unsure Thursday just how the toothbrush was used.
Jailers found Higham's discarded toothbrush just outside the jail, Hicks said.
The protective custody cell was outside the cellblock, giving the two inmates two fewer doors to pass through to gain entry to the jailers' control room, where they pushed a button to unlock the door to the lobby, Hicks said. From the lobby, they left the jail through the unlocked public entrance.
Higham had been held in the county jail since July, giving him almost a year to plan the escape, Hicks said.
When Coffer was captured Tuesday night, he was wearing six pairs of socks, assuming the jail-issued rubber sandals would not hold up on the run, the sheriff said. He said it's probable Higham will have taken the same precaution.
Hicks said Higham and Coffer timed the escape with the serving of breakfast, which begins at 4 a.m.. Two jailers on duty at the time were at the far end of the cellblock and only became aware that Higham and Coffer escaped when they heard the sound of the lobby door being released.
By then, the two inmates were headed southwest into the woods behind the jail. The sheriff began a search of the area around the jail using a helicopter from the Arkansas Air National Guard in Little Rock, all-terrain vehicles, tracking dogs and deputies on foot.
Helping the sheriff's office in the search, Hicks said, were members of the Paris, Booneville and Magazine police departments; 15th Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force; Arkansas Game and Fish Commission; the Arkansas State Police; and the Arkansas Department of Correction. Hicks said a private citizen volunteered the use of his airplane for the search Thursday.
Coffer was recaptured about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday about a half-mile from the jail, Hicks said.
Hicks said Higham has contacts in the Paris and Booneville area. He may be wearing a black shirt that he had on under his black and white striped jail shirt, and black and white striped pants. But as Higham moves through the area, he could find other clothes, Hicks said.
The sheriff urged residents in the area to lock their homes and vehicles and to report any sightings to the Logan County sheriff's office at (479) 963-3271.
He said he didn't think Higham was armed but that he could acquire weapons. Hicks said searchers came across a cabin Wednesday that was unlocked and contained firearms.
Hicks noted that Higham was accused of using a firearm in the robbery of the Subiaco Federal Credit Union on June 12, 2015. He is charged with aggravated robbery and is scheduled to go on trial in Logan County Circuit Court in Paris on July 22.
Hicks said he was concerned about Higham because he has some medical problems, on which he did not elaborate.
Circuit Court records show Higham's attorney notified the court in March that Higham was pursuing a defense based on a mental disease or defect.
A mental evaluation report dated May 31 by State Hospital psychologist Paul Deyoub concluded that Higham did not suffer from a mental disease or defect. The report noted that Higham was an alcoholic and suffered from depression.
Coffer also was being held on an aggravated robbery charge accusing him of robbing a convenience store at gunpoint, Hicks said.
The escape happened just weeks before Logan County voters will decide in a July 12 special election whether to institute new sales taxes for a new county jail.
The ballot gives voters the choice for two 0.5 percent sales taxes, one to finance construction of a $13 million, 100-bed jail and sheriff's office, and the other to generate money to operate the new jail.
Logan County Judge Ray Gack, who served as sheriff for several years, said comments have been made on social media that Tuesday's escape was planned to get people to vote for the sales tax. He called the idea stupid.
NW News on 07/01/2016