Inmate escapes Deer Ridge prison

Oregon State Police are searching for an inmate who escaped from Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras on Sunday night.

Prison officials discovered Clinton Orvill Swearingen II was missing at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, according to a news release. He was booked into the prison Feb. 4 on a Linn County charge of first-degree theft, two counts of second-degree burglary and two counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

St. Charles Madras spent much of the day on lockdown after the facility received reports that Swearingen may have been spotted on hospital property.

Police believe Swearingen may be wearing his prison clothes, blue jeans with the word “inmate” and the Department of Corrections logo stenciled on the knee in orange or red shorts; and a blue T-shirt with the word “inmate” and the DOC logo stenciled in orange on the front and back.

Anyone with information on Swearingen’s whereabouts is asked to call Oregon State Police at 800-452-7888.

— From staff reports