Escaped Inmates From Portage Arrested in Illinois

Two inmates, who escaped from the state’s maximum-security prison in Portage Thursday morning, have been found in Illinois. Police were searching for 46-year-old Thomas Deering and 37-year-old James Newman. According to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, the pair were taken into custody at a homeless shelter in Rockford.  An employee of the shelter posted about the incident on Facebook, saying two men showed up at the shelter’s doors “shivering, frozen, wearing prison issue sweats and thermal shirts.” The men were taken into custody by the Rockford Police Department. Authorities determined the inmates had gone to a local hotel and were picked up by Portage Cab and taken to Poynette, according to a release from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Records indicate that Deering has convictions for kidnapping, sexual assault, burglary, battery by a prisoner and escape. Newman has convictions for kidnapping, escape, theft and discharging a firearm.

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