TEXARKANA, Texas–One of two inmates accused of escaping from the Bi-State jail in the wee hours of Friday morning was being held on an escape charge related to a Bowie County jail breakout last year that ended with another inmate being killed by police.
Wayde Burton Land, 39, and J.C. Lee Kirby, 38, allegedly escaped from the lockup on the fourth floor of the Bi-State Justice Center at around 3 a.m. dressed in street clothes, according to the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office. Officials have not said how the two inmates obtained street clothes or how they managed to get past jail staff and locked doors.
In March 2022, Land and a different inmate, Michael Olson, 30, managed to break out of the Bowie County jail annex.
The two men had broken through cinder block, climbed into a pipe chase and knocked a hole through concrete on the back wall to exit the jail from the second floor. Once outside, the men were able to maneuver through the perimeter fencing and concertina wire before fleeing the jail property, according to a statement from Bowie County Sheriff Jeff Neal at the time.
Land was arrested for escape in Texarkana, Ark., while Olson was shot and killed when he grappled with a Texarkana Ark. Police Dept. officer trying to take him into custody.
Land remained in Arkansas custody until earlier this year when he was returned to Bowie County. Miller County, Arkansas, court records show Land received 2-year sentences for commercial burglary and breaking and entering in April 2022. One of those charges related to a building he and Olson broke into while on the lam and the other was a prior charge.
Land was returned to Bowie County custody Feb. 28, court records show. He could face consequences in Arkansas if he is found to have violated the terms of his parole there.
Land was formally arraigned on the 2022 escape charge last month. He entered a plea of not guilty and is scheduled to return to court this month for a pretrial hearing before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
Kirby was being held on a pending drug possession charge and is scheduled for a jury trial in August before 102nd District Judge Jeff Addison.
If captured and convicted of escape, the men face two to ten years in prison.
Anyone with information about the location of Land or Kirby is asked to call 911 or the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office at 903-798-3149.
