UPDATED @ 2 p.m. Sept. 28: Escaped Rockview-prison inmate Franklin Barndt was taken into custody at 10:23 a.m. Wednesday just outside Easton, prison spokesman Jeff Rackovan confirmed to StateCollege.com.
He said Barndt was in the company of his wife at the time. State police, the Easton local police and the state Department of Corrections were involved in taking Barndt into custody, Rackovan said.
He said Barndt will be returned to Rockview within a day or so. But first, Rackovan said, Barndt will be arraigned on a felony-level escape charge. His wife will be charged with conspiracy to escape, also a felony-level offense, Rackovan said.
StateCollege.com will post more details as they become available.
Earlier coverage is posted below.
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UPDATED @ 11:59 a.m. Sept. 28: Escaped Rockview-prison inmate Franklin Barndt has been taken back into custody, WJAC TV is reporting.
Reporter Bill Wadell of WJAC TV first reported the news via Twitter.
StateCollege.com will post additional details shortly.
Earlier coverage is posted below.
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Earlier coverage, posted @ 11:17 a.m. Sept. 28:
No immediate evidence suggests that escaped Rockview-prison inmate Franklin Barndt is armed or dangerous, prison spokesman Jeff Rackovan said Wednesday morning.
But ‘you never say never,’ Rackovan said. ‘You’re dealing with someone who has the ability to act out.’
He said people near the State Correctional Institution at Rockview grounds — located just west of Pleasant Gap along state Route 26 — should be alert to possible vehicle thefts or residential break-ins. Taking shelter in a private home could help Barndt ‘get his bearings and make some phone calls to further his (escape) plan,’ Rackovan added.
That said, ‘I don’t know how well thought out his plan was,’ Rackovan went on.
Barndt, 34, of the Easton area, was first noticed missing about 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the prison. A convicted drug offender, Barndt has been serving a three- to six-year sentence since December 2010, Rackovan said.
He said Barndt had been making ‘very good progress’ during his incarceration — such good progress, in fact, that he was placed in the prison’s forestry camp, a low-security residential facility.
The 72-bed camp is about a mile southeast of the primary Rockview-compound buildings, which are right along Route 26 near Pleasant Gap. Rackovan said the forestry camp is in a wooded area along Nittany Mountain.
‘We’re not really sure if it was a walk-off or what may have occurred’ Tuesday evening, he said. He said Barndt was last seen sometime roughly between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. — a period of time when inmates at the camp are allowed some leisurely downtime.
But about 10 p.m., when prison staff conducted a routine headcount, workers noticed Barndt was gone, Rackovan said. (The last walk-off from the forestry camp was in the mid- to late-1980s.)
Rackovan said prison staff members are continuing to search all the Rockview grounds. Likewise, he said, Barndt’s possessions at the camp have been collected for analysis, and his correspondence, phone records and visitor logs are being reviewed.
Anyone at the prison who has interacted with Barndt is being interviewed, as well, Rackovan said.
In addition, he said, the state Department of Corrections is producing ‘Wanted’ posters and sending alerts to news media. The state police have taken the lead in the investigation beyond the prison grounds.
Barndt had been due to go before a parole board in December 2012, Rackovan said.
But ‘common sense would (suggest) that’s out the window’ now, he said. ‘ … (Barndt) will definitely get time added on to his sentence.’
Further, provided that Barndt returns to state prison, he will not be housed again in a low-security unit, Rackovan said.
The formal charge for which Barndt has been serving time is a felony related to the manufacture, delivery or possession of a drug, according to online court records. The crime was committed in Northampton County, the records show.
More specifically, earlier media reports refer to crack-distribution allegations against Barndt.
Charges against Barndt in prior years — in prior cases — have included recklessly endangering another person, criminal mischief, theft, trespassing and making terroristic threats, court records show.
The photo posted to the right of this report — shared by Bill Wadell of WJAC TV — shows Barndt at an earlier time. According to state police, Barndt is white and stands about 5 feet 9 inches tall.
He weighs about 160 pounds, is bald and has a goatee and brown eyes, according to the police description. The Daily Collegian — which broke the news of the escape via Twitter and Facebook — noted that Barndt reportedly has several tattoos, as well.
Anyone who sees Barndt should use caution in his presence and call Rockview state police immediately at (814) 355-7545, police said.
Earlier coverage
