By Seth Burkett
The Decatur Daily
DECATUR, Ala. — Two state prisoners have been arrested on first-degree theft charges after they disappeared from Decatur Work Release and stole a pickup last week, authorities said.
David Hopkins, 40, and Michael Worsham, 36, were back in Alabama Department of Corrections custody and being held in Limestone Correctional Facility on Wednesday.
Albertville police found Hopkins and Worsham shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday with a 2006 Ford F350 pickup, which was reported stolen about 12 hours earlier from the 2100 block of Sixth Avenue Southeast, Decatur police spokesman Lt. John Crouch said.
Crouch said the victim noticed his truck missing from the parking lot of Vinson Guard Service about midnight, but did not report it until later because he thought his son had borrowed the vehicle. The victim told officers the vehicle was unlocked and the keys were in the console.
Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said the work release center was searched and authorities notified after both men were unaccounted for during an institutional roster count about 10 p.m. Oct. 30.
Hopkins was sentenced in Madison County in November 1997 to life in prison for theft. He will be eligible for parole in March 2015.
“That would have been one of the criteria that made him eligible for placement in a work camp to begin with,” Corbett said.
Worsham was sentenced in Marshall County in April 2006 to serve 20 years for forgery.
“They can face the theft charges for the theft of the truck and they could also face escape charges, but it’s yet to be determined whether the district attorney will prosecute that,” Corbett said.