A manhunt was underway Tuesday night for a 21-year-old man who escaped from custody earlier in the day while being transported from a jail in northern Minnesota to a hospital.
Jason Lee King, 21, of Redby, Minn., ran away from a corrections officer who was escorting him from the Beltrami County jail to an appointment at the Sanford Bemidji Medical Center, according to the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office.
Police were able to follow King's footprints in the snow that led to a home where tracks indicated that he stole a vehicle parked in the driveway.
Police later spotted the stolen vehicle as it entered the Red Lake Reservation on Hwy. 89. After a car chase that involved speeds reaching 90 miles per hour and King frequently driving into oncoming lanes of traffic, he finally crashed on South Railway Road and fled into the woods on foot.
Anyone with information about King is asked to call the Red Lake police at 218-679-3313 or the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office at 218-333-9111.
King was being held on armed robbery charges.
Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495; Twitter: @stribnorfleet#
