Prisoner Escapes Work Detail In Lapeer

LAPEER (WWJ) -  A lockdown for students in the Lapeer School District has been lifted after authorities called off a search for an inmate who escaped Tuesday afternoon.

Police say Darrell Stollard, who was convicted of armed robbery, was supposed to be on work detail mowing the grass at the Thumb Correctional Facility.  Instead, police found his equipment abandoned and his prison clothes in a nearby ditch.

John Cordell with the Michigan Department of Corrections says police conducted a search of the area when Stollard did not check in during his lunch.

"If we do not locate him immediately, then our absconder recovery units, along with any local assets that can assist, will continue looking for him on a regular  basis," Cordell  said. "He would go onto a parolee absconder case load, where our absconder recovery units would look for him."

Local schools were in "secure mode" as authorities searched, but the alert was lifted after police said the man likely left the area. Students were released on time.