Missouri Inmate Escapes, Steals Squad Car from Pursuers

Travis Lee Davis, 30, stole the vehicle into which he had been confined while the officers interviewed the victim.

Davis was in a parking lot in Heavener, Oklahoma, after his escape from Pettis County Jail in Missouri. While interviewing a woman who claimed he had kidnapped her during his flight, Davis was detained in the responding officer’s vehicle. Moments later, he was driving away.

Apparently, Davis managed to squeeze through a narrow opening between the back and front of the car. “It’s not an easy thing to do,” LeFlore County Sheriff Rob Seale told NBC News. “I mean, we’ve rarely seen it before because the window in the prisoner cage is pretty small but he is a really skinny guy so he could fit.”

Davis wrecked the car a few miles away, fled the scene on foot, and may have hopped a nearby train. He remains at large. Plot twist: So does supposed kidnapping victim Christole Hurst. Authorities found out too late that Hurst is actually a suspect in Davis’s escape.

Davis is considering dangerous. He was being held on a $110,000 bond on charges of endangering the welfare of a child, domestic assault, resisting arrest, and a parole violation. “We’re thinking she may still be around this area somewhere and attempting to pick him back up,” Seale said.