Two of the three inmates who escaped through a window from the Greenwood Restitution Center early Monday still haven’t been recaptured.
One of the three was apprehended in Carroll County before being returned to custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
According to Carroll County Sheriff Clint Walker, Michael Smith was apprehended as a result of a vehicle theft call his department received early Monday morning.
“We received a call from J.J. Ferguson (Sand & Gravel Company) out on Highway 82, on the Leflore-Carroll County line,” Walker said. “They said one of their work trucks had been stolen.”
A Ferguson employee had left his truck momentarily and came outside to find it was gone, Walker said.
Carroll County law enforcement saw the truck traveling down I-55 South about 7:30 a.m. and pulled it over.
“We identified the driver as Smith, one of the escapees,” Walker said.
Smith and two others — Corey Scruggs, 21, of Tupelo and Kenneth Arrington, 25, of Greenville — had escaped the Greenwood Restitution Center around 3 a.m.
It’s unclear how Smith made it to the location where he stole the truck. Officers questioned him about the whereabouts of the two other escapees, Walker said, but Smith said he didn’t know anything.
Carroll and Leflore County sheriffs’ offices, as well as the Greenwood Police Department and MDOC, are still on alert looking for the other two men. MDOC confirmed that as of Wednesday, they were still at large.
Scruggs is on probation for burglary charges brought in Pontotoc County. Arrington is a probationer on vehicle theft and burglary charges brought in Washington County.
All three escapees were assigned to the center to pay fines and fees imposed by the courts of their respective counties.
MDOC’s restitution center program serves as an alternative to incarceration for minimal-risk offenders.
According to the MDOC website, restitution center residents are required to work and pay full or partial payments to crime victims, and have to pay room and board fees ($10 per day) and court fees and establish a savings account. Residents also must provide a minimum of 40 hours of free community service.
There are four restitution centers in the state — one each in Hinds, Jackson, Leflore and Rankin counties.
Termination from a restitution center for misbehavior or non-compliance can result in the resident being returned to inmate status at a secure MDOC facility.
Anyone with information on either Scruggs or Arrington may call the Greenwood Police Department at 453-3311, the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department at 453-5141, or the Mississippi Department of Corrections at (601) 359-5600.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
