It's a nightmarish case of deja vu for prison officials.
Convicted sex offender Keith Lamar Shepherd escaped from the Gunnison prison Monday morning - almost four years to the day that he broke out of a Draper prison facility in 1992.Shepherd was the first inmate to escape under Corrections director Lane McCotter's administration on Nov. 3, 1992, and he now becomes the first person ever to escape from the Gunnison prison in central Utah.
Shepherd, 37, was working in the prison's kitchen when he apparently slipped into a storage compartment of a delivery truck about 10:30 a.m. Monday, said Corrections spokesman Jack Ford.
Once the truck drove outside the prison's security fences and stopped for gas, Shepherd climbed out of the compartment, climbed a fence and ran across U.S. 89. Investigators believe he stole a Gunnison Phone Co. truck that had keys left in the ignition.
Investigators said he drove the truck only a few blocks, parked it and stole a champagne-colored Mazda 626 from a woman. She identified Shepherd as the thief from photographs, Ford said.
Prison officers noticed Shepherd was missing when one of them discovered his shirt rolled up in a milk carton.
"It had his number on it," Ford said. Officers used bloodhounds to trace Shepherd's route until he stole the phone truck, Ford said.
Prison officials moved their command post to Provo Monday night after a bank was robbed about 2:30 p.m. by a man matching Shepherd's description.
Provo police Lt. Greg Duvall said a man entered the First Security Bank, 92 N. University Ave. (100 North), about 2:30 p.m. and handed a note to one of the tellers indicating he was armed and wanted money.
Ford said the man asked specifically for $2,000. The tellers told police that the man saw an employee counting money in the next booth, and he jumped over the counter, grabbed it and ran from the bank.
The same man was reportedly seen later a few blocks from the bank. The Utah Highway Patrol set up partial roadblocks at the mouth of Spanish Fork and Provo Canyons but only for an hour. Officers blocked only traffic leaving the county.
Provo police Capt. George Pierpont said the bank has a fuzzy videotape of the incident. Pierpont said it's not high-quality video but enough to identify the robber as Shepherd.
The robbery fits Shepherd's past practices while on the lam. After his last prison escape, also on the eve of a presidential election, Shepherd robbed restaurants and convenience stores in Salt Lake and Utah County and six other states. In some cases, he would brazenly introduce himself to those he robbed.
After nearly four months of freedom and a chase that ended with Shepherd rolling his stolen car, he was finally arrested in Sparks, Nev.
Ford said there were supposed to be restrictions on Shepherd so that it was more difficult for him to advance in security levels. Inmates are divided into six levels, with those acquiring level three or higher being allowed to work.
All inmates are reviewed annually for changes in their security level. The restrictions, referred to as a notoriety override, on Shepherd should have made it much harder for him to earn level three status, which is what he was when he escaped.
Ford said he didn't know how Shepherd attained level three status, but noted that other than escaping, Shepherd wasn't a management problem.