2womenescape fromSTOP facility

Police were called to the STOP Programon 1901 Gettysburg Ave. to a report that two women escaped the compound.

A supervisor at the correctional facility said that Tiffany Hunter, 38, of Dayton, and Jessica Payne, 26, of Kettering, were inmates and had been outside in the yard during recreation time. Just after 4 p.m., the twowomen opened the gate of the facility’s fence and ran away.

Thewomen had taken off their green STOP Program jumpsuits and were running in white “long johns,” according to police reports.

Both women had been in the program for about a week, andapparentlyHunter had made previous comments that she was going to escape.

Police searched, butwere unable to find the escapees.

The officer was injured and taken to a local hospital, according to a Columbus Division of Police Facebook post.

Both the officer’s cruiser and the at-fault vehiclewere destroyed, said Columbus police Sgt. Stephen Carr in the post.

“Only by a miracle was the sergeant not critically injured,” he said.

The driverwho struck the officer was detained.

I-670 east was closed for several hours following the incident. It has since reopened.

The name of the officer involved has not yet been released.