One of two inmates who escaped in the Florida Panhandle while being transported to Minnesota has been captured in Mississippi, authorities said.
Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said in a news release 28-year-old James Thomas Banks was arrested without incident Wednesday morning after a cab driver recognized him and called police.
Authorities said Banks and 30-year-old Michael Andrew Rotunno escaped from a prison van Monday that had stopped at the Walton County Jail in Florida. The van was taking the inmates to Jackson, Minnesota.
Rotunno was spotted checking into a hotel Tuesday night in Longview, Texas, authorities said. They believe he is traveling in a stolen black pickup truck.
Rotunno, who stands 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds, was last seen wearing a blue striped button-up shirt, blue jeans and brown leather shoes, the sheriff's office said. His right arm was broken and in a cast at the time he escaped.
Rotunno is charged with larceny in a building and delivering and manufacturing narcotics. Banks faces charges of unarmed robbery and escaping from jail. Bailey said both have extensive criminal histories and have escaped before.
Authorities said Rotunno was being transported from Longview, Texas. Banks was on his way from Orange County, California.
