Man w/Local Criminal History Apprehended After Escape in Oklahoma

An Oklahoma Department of Corrections inmate is back in custody after he fled from a minimum security prison Wednesday morning.

Officials said 39-year-old Kenneth A. Laws was reported missing about 3:15am Wednesday after he failed to show up to work in the kitchen of the Jackie Brannon Correctional Center, a prison for men.

Authorities located Laws about 3pm Wednesday just south of Stuart, Oklahoma, which is about 20 miles east of McAlester. Officials said they believe Laws stole a pickup in McAlester and made it to Stuart before the pickup broke down.

Laws is currently serving a sentence out of Atoka County for eluding a police officer. He also has a criminal history in Effingham County.

Officials said Laws also walked away from an Oklahoma City halfway house in October. He was later captured by the US Marshal's Service in Newton, Texas, and moved to the correctional center.