QUEETS — An escaped Olympic Corrections Center inmate was “tired, cold and hungry” when he was returned to the facility Tuesday night after spending three nights in the wilderness, a state Department of Corrections spokesman said Wednesday.
A Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy apprehended 27-year-old Darby R. Maguire, who was covered in scratches from walking through the dense brush, that evening at about 9:20 p.m. near the Queets-Clearwater School, authorities said.
Maguire escaped Saturday evening from the minimal-security work camp south of Forks while he and 24 other inmates used a running track outside of the perimeter fence.
Capt. Ben Stamper said a deputy and Quinault tribal officer found Maguire walking along the southbound shoulder of U.S. Highway 101 near Milepost 146, about 25 miles south of OCC.
He surrendered without incident and was treated for the scratches at the work camp before being transferred to Washington Corrections Center near Shelton, said Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis.
A nearby resident reported his location after seeing him walk out of the forest, authorities said.
Maguire was “soaking wet and cold” and didn’t appear to have been prepared for the escape, Stamper said.
“He didn’t really have much of an idea where he was at,” he said.
“He was trying to get to the ocean.”
Stamper described Maguire as being covered in scratches.
“Any exposed skin was pretty well covered,” he said.
Stamper said the escapee had used sleeves from his sweatshirt to cover the lower half of his legs, which were exposed after he cut the lower pant legs to turn the pants into shorts.
Maguire was serving a 4½-year sentence after being convicted of three counts of third-degree assault and one count of second-degree robbery in Whatcom County.
He began his sentence in January 2010 and was scheduled to be released in July 2014.
Maguire could face additional charges for the escape.
Lewis said inmates use the running track, under supervision of Corrections officers, “regularly.”
Maguire was found missing when a head count was conducted after the inmates returned from the track.
Lewis couldn’t say why a fence doesn’t surround the track but added it is common for inmates at such facilities to work under supervision outside of the perimeter.
“Ultimately, what keeps offenders in work release, they know that 90 percent-plus [of the time], they will be caught within a few days,” he said.
“It’s pretty rough terrain out there.”
“Your incentive is you don’t want to start over,” Lewis added, referring to additional prison time.
OCC houses about 375 offenders.
Another inmate, James Edward Russell, 39, escaped from the facility June 15 but was arrested the next morning in the woods near the Hoh River Resort about 14 miles away.
He has been charged with first-degree escape in Jefferson County Superior Court.
Lewis said he didn’t have any additional information on how Russell escaped.
Later that month, on June 29, two 25-year-old inmates tried to escape from the Clallam Bay Corrections Center by taking a guard hostage and driving a forklift into the two perimeter fences.
The forklift driver, Kevin Newland, was shot and killed by a Corrections officer.
The other inmate, Dominick Maldonado, surrendered.
Maldonado is serving a 163-year sentence on 15 charges after he wounded seven people in a 2005 shooting rampage at Tacoma Mall.
He could face additional charges for escape if the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office decides to pursue the case.
Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly said in an email Wednesday that she is reviewing the report from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office on the incident but hasn’t decided whether charges will be filed.
The Sheriff’s Office submitted portions of the report last week and earlier this week, she said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.