Three Inmates Recaptured After Stealing a Patrol Car During an Inmate Transfer [UPDATE]

UPDATE, August 8, 2:03 p.m.:  The Pettis County Sheriff's Office has provided this press release in regard to the escape, pursuit and recapture of three inmates during a transport on I-70.

A Pettis County Sheriff’s deputy was overpowered in Cooper County this morning during an inmate transport, resulting in an escape and the patrol car being stolen.

Just before 7 a.m., one of three inmates being transported from Pettis County to the Missouri Department of Corrections complained of abdominal pains while on Interstate 70 near Boonville. The officer stopped at a rest area east of Boonville to check on the inmate and escorted him into the mens room. While inside the inmate, identified as Ronald W. Greer, Jr, overpowered the deputy and a citizen who tried to assist, obtaining the keys to the patrol vehicle. The inmate was chased to the patrol car where a second struggle ensued, but the inmate was able to enter the vehicle and drive away with the other two inmates still restrained in the back seat of the car.

Approximately 45 minutes later, Glasgow Police spotted the stolen patrol car and a chase ensued southbound on Highway 87 towards Boonville. The driver turned onto a private lane and through several fields before exiting the vehicle and fleeing on foot into a wooded area. The other two inmates were recaptured at the location without incident.

Officers from Howard and Cooper County Sheriff’s Offices, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and several area police departments conducted a manhunt, aided by air support units from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Greer was recaptured around 10am approximately three miles south of where he fled on foot. All three inmates were transported back to the Pettis County Jail.

Greer will face numerous charges including escape, assault on a law enforcement officer, and tampering in both Cooper and Howard Counties.

The deputy was treated and released from Cooper County Memorial Hospital with minor cuts and abrasions.

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August 9, 11:58 a.m. - Three inmates being transported in a Pettis County patrol car nearly escaped police custody during a stop at a rest area at an I-70 rest stop close to the 104 mile marker in Cooper county.  According to KRCG 13, two inmates were apprehended shortly after the escape attempt.  The third inmate, 44-year-old Ronald Greer, was found in Howard county after a short manhunt.

Greer had been charged with forcible rape, forcible sodomy and armed criminal action from a rape near the Katy Trail in Sedalia last June.  The Pettis County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that all three inmates involved with the incident are back in custody.

We'll bring you more details on the incident as we receive them.