By Tim Hudson
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
VINITA, Okla. — Department of Corrections officials are asking people to be on the lookout for two men they say escaped from the Northeast Oklahoma Correctional Center in Vinita on Monday.
According to DOC public information officer Alex Gerszewski, 33-year-old Jason Pedro and 37-year-old John Shepherd Jr. escaped from the minimum security facility early Monday morning.
“We classify these guys as walkaways, because a minimum security facility doesn’t have a fence around it,” he told the Examiner-Enterprise on Tuesday morning.
“We did a count at 6 a.m. and they were there but when by the 8 a.m. count they were gone,” he said. “So sometime between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. they went missing.”
According to DOC records Pedro has convictions for drug possession, domestic abuse, pointing a firearm and burglary, while Shepherd has convictions for possession of controlled dangerous substance with the intent to distribute, burglary and having a stolen vehicle.
Shepherd is described as an American Indian male, 5-foot 11-inches, 190 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has numerous tattoos.
Pedro is described as an American Indian male, 5-foot 10-inches, 220 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He also has numerous tattoos.
Gerszewski says that authorities have no reason to believe that the men are dangerous, but “we don’t know what their state of mind is right now being on the run.”
“If anyone sees them, we would ask them not to approach but to call either their local authorities or the Department of Corrections Fugitive Warrants Division at 405-425-2570, he said.
Copyright 2015 the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise