Police say inmate fled Dermott unit

Escapee was part of mowing crew

An inmate escaped while working outside an Arkansas prison Tuesday morning and is believed to have fled in a pickup stolen from a gas station, officials said. The pickup was hauling a tractor.

Robert Woodward, 46, escaped while he and fellow inmates were mowing near a cornfield by the Delta Regional Unit in Dermott around 8:20 a.m., Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves said in an email. The lockup is at 880 E. Gaines St.

Authorities believe Woodward stole a white 2013 Ford F-250 from a nearby gas station, Graves said. The pickup was hauling a green John Deere tractor. The pickup has an Arkansas license plate with the number 764UZM.

Prison staff members and local law enforcement officials were searching for Woodward in the area Tuesday.

The pickup belonged to a customer of the Dermott Super Stop at 302 E. Speedway St., a gas station employee said. The business is about 1½-miles drive from the prison.

The customer had stopped to get something

to eat, turned and saw someone driving off in his truck, the employee said. Police reviewed security camera footage of the theft, the employee said.

On Jan. 17, Woodward was arrested after he led Arkansas authorities on a vehicle chase along parts of two interstates in Little Rock, police said.

That day, he was driving a Dodge pickup and was pulled over about 9 a.m. after the vehicle was seen swerving along eastbound Interstate 30 near Arch Street, police said. While the trooper was checking his license, Woodward sped off and drove onto Interstate 440, then back onto the westbound I-30 ramp, according to reports.

He led state police on a chase and was ultimately arrested after troopers rammed his pickup, shot out a tire and approached the vehicle with a police dog, police said.

At the time, Woodward was wanted in “as many as five states” on charges including escape, assault with a weapon and assault on a law enforcement officer, state police said in a January news release announcing his arrest. There was no immediate word on the status of charges in other states.

Woodward was originally reported to be from North Carolina, although a Hot Springs address is listed for him on the Department of Correction website.

Woodward was sentenced to 96 months in prison, and he arrived at the Delta prison

unit on April 6, Graves said. He was convicted of fleeing.

Woodward is white, stands 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 226 pounds, according to the Department of Correction website. He has a cropped haircut and a graying beard, Graves said.