3 arrested in Ark. prison escape plan

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Police have arrested three people suspected of leaving a car for two convicted killers who escaped from prison by putting on guard uniforms that are made at the facility, officials said Tuesday.

Arkansas State Police Spokesman Bill Sadler said that police on Saturday arrested Deana Davison and Ryan McKinney, both of Little Rock, and Michael Stephenson of Jacksonville. The three were charged with furnishing an implement for escape, a felony.

Sadler would not say if police believe others may have helped the killers escape.

Inmates Jeffrey Grinder and Calvin Adams escaped from the prison in Grady Friday evening. Video surveillance shows the men putting on the uniforms, made as part of the inmates’ job at the high-security Cummins Unit, in the prison library after a 6 p.m. headcount.

They walked out of the prison unchallenged during a shift change soon afterward and drove away in the car left for them, said Correction Department spokeswoman Dina Tyler.

The men were spotted in Missouri on Saturday and later were seen in Michigan, authorities said.

Five Correction Department officers have been put on unpaid leave while the department investigates the escape. The five officers have not been identified, but a spokeswoman for the department has said they had been guarding the entry and exit points of the prison.

Grinder, 32, and Adams, 39, were each convicted of capital murder and were serving life sentences without parole.

Tyler said Tuesday that none of three arrested were current or former Correction Department employees.

The department is investigating how the inmates obtained the uniforms and were able to leave the prison without anyone noticing something was amiss, Tyler said.

Associated Press writer Chuck Bartels contributed to this report.