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Colo. to study how inmate escaped from prison

Forty-eight-year-old Douglas Alward surrendered Wednesday

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An undated photo provided by the Colorado Department of Corrections shows Douglas J. Alward. Alward escaped from the Sterling Corrections Facility in Sterling, Colo., late Sunday Night Aug. 22, 2010. Alward is serving a 20- to- 40-year sentence for convictions of attempted murder, assault, burglary and kidnapping. (AP Photo/Colorado Deparment of Corrections)

Associated Press

STERLING, Colo. — Now that an escaped inmate has been captured, Colorado corrections officials will focus on how he managed to flee a maximum-security prison.

Forty-eight-year-old Douglas Alward surrendered Wednesday at a home near Yuma where he had been holding a woman hostage.

State corrections director Ari Zavaras said Alward breached a fence around the Sterling Correctional Facility using materials he apparently got from inside the prison. The unidentified materials were found at the fence.

It was the fourth escape for Alward, who was serving a 20- to- 40-year sentence for attempted murder, assault, burglary and kidnapping. He would have been eligible for parole in two months although he would have faced unspecified federal charges upon his release.