Oklahoma Prison Escapees Captured By Off-Duty Deputy, Report Says

Two escapees are back behind prison walls after an off-duty sheriff's deputy noticed them walking along the highway in their gray prison uniforms, a report says.

Eddie Patton and Carlos Arkeketa were taken into custody on Sunday morning, according to the Okmulgee News Network.

The two men escaped from John Lilley Correctional Center in Boley earlier in the weekend. Both have long arrest records. A third man, Troy Gage, was apprehended on Saturday and was returned to the penitentiary.

Okmulgee County Deputy Jim Rassmussen was driving with his wife in Lincoln County when he came across Arkeketa and Patton, ONN says.

Arkeketa, 28, is from the Pawnee area and the police department there issued an alert asking residents to be on the lookout in case he sought refuge with family.

Arkeketa is currently incarcerated until 2016 on a Pawnee County first-degree burglary conviction and on probation and serving suspended sentences until 2024 for other crimes committed in the same case, including assault with a dangerous weapon, online records show.

Patton, who is from Tulsa, is serving time until December 2015 for first-degree burglary, larceny from a house and assault with a dangerous weapon in Tulsa County. The 31-year-old also is on probation for other crimes in the same case until 2022.

Added charges of escape from a penal institution and possibly others will be added for the three men, likely violating their terms of deferment in the other convictions.

Gage, who was taken back into custody on Saturday, was convicted of robbery in Delaware County and was sentenced to prison until 2022. He also has served time for manufacturing drugs, kidnapping, second-degree burglary and forgery.

ONN reports that a bystander who was talking with the escapees along the highway tried to stand up for the men, stepping in between the deputy and escapees before complying with demands to move when he was told they were prisoners.

Read more about the capture by clicking here.