Sanford Prison Escapee Sought

State prison authorities and police were searching Thursday night for a Sanford Correctional Center inmate who escaped over a fence, state Correction Department officials said.

Clarence Evans Jr. was spotted by another inmate s Evans went over a fence shortly before 8 p.m., department spokesman Keith Acree said.

Evans, 26, was serving a maximum sentence of approximately 1 year 4 months for crimes including possession of a firearm by a felon and speeding to elude arrest, Acree said.

Officials asked that anyone who sees Evans contact their local police of the Sanford Correctional Center at 919-776-4325.

Sanford is a minimum-security facility with a capacity of about 300 inmates, the department says on its Web site. It was first used in the 1930s to house road gangs.