
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 6, 1994                   TAG: 9412060109
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MAIDENS                                LENGTH: Short

MAN FLEES PRISON IN STATE DAIRY TRUCK

A James River Correctional Center inmate escaped from a work detail Monday in a state dairy truck, the corrections department said.

Michael D. Hall, 31, was last seen driving the farm vehicle toward a barn on the prison's adjacent dairy farm between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m., said corrections department spokesman Jim Jones.

The medium-security prison is just east of Goochland. Hall was a minimum custody inmate there and was authorized to drive the truck, Jones said.

He said a 20-person team was searching for Hall. Corrections officials speculate that Hall may have been headed for Lexington, his last known address, but there were no firm leads Monday.

Hall was serving a 25-year sentence for breaking and entering, larceny and burglary.

Jones said Hall had worked on the 4,000-acre farm since May. The farm provides milk to state prisons.

by CNB