Prisoner escapes from Robinson Correctional Center

ROBINSON, Ill. — Law enforcement officials are searching for a prisoner who escaped from a work crew in eastern Illinois’ Crawford County.

The Illinois Department of Corrections says Jared Carter walked away around 11 a.m. Friday from a crew that was cutting grass on the grounds of the Robinson Correctional Center. The crew was supervised and working outside the walls of the minimum security prison, about 110 miles southeast of Champaign near the Indiana border.

DOC spokesman Tom Shaer says authorities are searching the area around the prison with dogs and helicopters.

Carter is described as 6 feet tall and 210 pounds with close-cropped strawberry-blond hair and a long goatee. He has tattoos on his neck below his ears.

Shaer says Carter’s prison-issued shirt and hat were recovered near the prison.