Rapist who fled Arkansas prison on jet ski in 2022 caught, officials confirm.

Convicted Rapist Arrested in West ⁢Virginia ‌After Daring⁣ Escape

LEWISBURG, W.Va.—A convicted rapist⁢ who authorities say used a jet ⁣ski during an escape from an Arkansas prison last year was arrested Tuesday in ⁣West Virginia, the U.S.​ Marshals Service said.

Samuel Paul Hartman, 39, was arrested along with his wife, his mother, and his mother’s boyfriend at a hotel in Lewisburg, the Marshals Service said in a news release.

The women are accused of helping Mr. Hartman escape in August 2022 from the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys, 96 miles (155 kilometers) east of Little Rock.

Daring​ Escape and Dramatic Arrest

Mr. Hartman was on a work detail in a field near the detention facility when a pickup truck with the women inside ​approached. Several gunshots were fired ⁣at a corrections officer from‌ the waiting vehicle as Mr. Hartman ran to it. The vehicle fled to two jet skis staged near the Mississippi River not far⁣ from the ​prison, the statement said.

Police have said the abandoned jet skis were found on the Mississippi side of the river ⁣and that a witness⁢ reported seeing one ⁣man ​and two⁤ women riding⁢ them.

Investigators later determined that Mr. Hartman’s mother had ties to West Virginia. Making the arrests Tuesday were U.S. marshals and officers⁤ with the West Virginia ⁢State ‌Police, the Lewisburg ⁢Police Department, and the Greenbrier⁤ County Sheriff’s Office.

Accomplices and Charges

Arrested along with Mr. Hartman were ⁣his wife, 39-year-old Misty Hartman, ⁢his mother, Linda Annette White, ‍61, and Rodney⁣ Trent, 52, ⁣identified by ‍the Marshals Service as Ms. White’s boyfriend.

Mr. Trent faces​ felony charges of harboring a sex offender ⁣and of assisting Mr. ​Hartman and the two women,‍ the Marshals Service said. The service did not say what charges Misty Hartman ⁤and Ms. White would face.

An​ Arkansas Department of Corrections ⁣spokeswoman said she expected‍ the suspects to be extradited to Arkansas as soon​ as possible.

Mr. Hartman, 39, was​ sentenced to life in prison in 2013 for a rape conviction out of Franklin County, Arkansas.