Authorities were searching Saturday for an inmate who escaped from an Arkansas Department of Correction work release program in Pine Bluff.
The agency said in an alert that Joel Lane, 39, left his work release job at Scallions Car Wash, 1501 W. Sixth Ave., and didn't return. Investigators think he was picked up by his wife, who was driving a black Acura sedan with license plate 475 VIP, prisons spokesman Solomon Graves said in an email.
"It is believed that Inmate Lee and his wife may be armed," Graves wrote. "Residents who may come in contact with them should act with extreme caution and immediately notify their local law enforcement agency."
Lane -- who was last seen wearing a khaki shirt and green pants -- was serving a sentence for simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm and possession of a firearm by a certain person. He would have been eligible for parole in 2020, records show.
Metro on 06/25/2017