Maryland inmate on the loose after escaping transport van
Police say a 38-year-old Maryland prison inmate is still on the loose, hours after he escaped a transport van in Howard County on Wednesday morning.
Now, Kate Amara, a reporter from WBAL-TV, told WTOP that she and her photographer believe they saw a man matching the escaped convict’s description while they were covering the police search.
The inmate, identified by authorities as Randy James Morris, escaped the van around 8:30 a.m. when it was stopped near Dorsey Run Road and Route 32, Maryland State Police told WTOP in an email.
Amara said she and her partner saw a man that looked like Morris while reporting where police had been searching earlier in the day. When her partner asked him for his name he said it was “Morris” and then “James Morris,” before the man ran away from the parking lot they were in and the news team called 911.
Amara said officers responded to the scene and now “all these good Samaritan kinds of civilians you hear yelling in the distance, like ‘oh, he’s over here, over here.'”
Amara added, “but it’s not every day that something like that happens when you’re out in the field.”
Officials said Morris was being transported to a medical appointment from the Jessup Correctional Institute along with four other inmates.
All the other inmates have been accounted for.
Morris, who was incarcerated for first-degree burglary, is described as 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 130-140 pounds. He has thin hair and a beard.
He was last seen wearing a white shirt and blue shorts. Police said he’s not wearing handcuffs and he was not secured while being transported.
Updated photo of escaped inmate Randy Morris from @MDSP: pic.twitter.com/0SKYIjWroa
— Howard County Police Department (@HCPDNews) August 16, 2023
Maryland State Police are leading the search for Morris, with Anne Arundel County and Howard County officers assisting them. Police said the search is both on foot and using drones.
Anyone who sees Morris is encouraged by police to call 911.
Here’s a map of the area where police said Morris escaped.