PORT TOWNSEND — A man who was captured two days after he escaped from a minimum-security prison this summer has been formally charged in Jefferson County Superior Court.
Mark David Vannausdle, 61, was charged with first-degree escape after he allegedly ran from Olympic Corrections Center south of Forks on Aug. 11.
He was transported Tuesday from the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla to the Jefferson County Jail for an arraignment hearing scheduled for 8:30 a.m. today.
Felony charge
Charges were filed Nov. 25.
First-degree escape is a Class B felony punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine.
Vannausdle told Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy Joe Pursley during a recorded interview Aug. 13 that other inmates at Olympic Corrections Center had been harassing him, and prison staff members weren’t stopping it, according to the probable cause statement.
He also said he needs special conditions in order to sleep, and he felt that prison staff was not accommodating his needs, according to the police report.
Vannausdle said he was moved Aug. 10 from one unit to another despite protesting, and he decided he would escape the following morning, according to the report.
He made a backpack out of a state Department of Corrections-issued supply bag and two belts, and he ran across the road and into the woods about 7 a.m. when he was supposed to be transported to the cafeteria for breakfast, according to the report.
Headed for Port Angeles
Vannausdle told Pursley he didn’t have a plan other than to make it to Forks and eventually Port Angeles.
Olympic Corrections Center, which houses about 380 male inmates, is surrounded by forest and lies about 27 miles south of Forks.
Vannausdle said nobody helped him escape or had agreed to pick him up. He also said he got lost in the woods and hurt his hip when he stumbled, according to the report.
Vannausdle said he intended to return to the prison Aug. 12 to turn himself in, but he had trouble walking and couldn’t find his way back, according to the report.
Joel Bruch, a Port Angeles resident who works for Bruch and Bruch Construction Inc., had received a prison alert along with all logging companies in the area, and he spotted Vannausdle less than 2 miles from the corrections center the following morning.
An inmate recovery team was notified, and Vannausdle was taken into custody at 7:37 a.m. Aug. 13.
Vannausdle originally was convicted of first-degree assault and first-degree robbery with a firearm enhancement in Pierce County. He began serving a 10-year sentence Sept. 10, 2002, and had a release date tentatively set for Jan. 1, 2021, according to court records.
Vannausdle was then convicted in 2004 of trying to escape from the McNeil Island Corrections Center. An officer there found a ladder he made out of shoelaces and wood scraps.
He was transferred to Olympic Corrections Center in June 2017, according to court documents.
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
