Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
VAN BUREN — A toe sticking out of a pile of laundry spelled the end of freedom for an escaped Crawford County jail inmate.
Sheriff Mike Allen said he and other officers were searching a house in the 600 block of 13th Street about 3 p.m. Wednesday when he spotted Luis Camacho Mendoza’s toe protruding from a large pile of laundry in a back bedroom.
Mendoza, 26, surrendered without a fight, Allen said.
Mendoza had been in the jail since early January on charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. Allen said he will be charged with escape.
Jail administrator Capt. Jeff Marvin said Mendoza was able to loosen six screws on the access panel of a fire door in an exercise yard. Mendoza told a guard Thursday he had worked on the door for weeks, loosening and re-tightening the screws until he was ready to escape.
When the six screws were removed, the door’s locking mechanism fell out with the access panel, allowing Mendoza to escape about 3 p.m. Tuesday, Allen said.
Officers developed several leads after tracing calls made from the phone in Mendoza’s cell, Allen said. One person interviewed said Mendoza was at the 13th Street house.
An investigation is under way to determine how Mendoza got the special screwdriver needed to loosen the screws on the access panel, Marvin said.
The access panel is being welded so no one can use it to escape in the future, Marvin said.
Copyright 2008 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc.