Monroe prison escapee is caught in woods

NORTH BEND, Wash. – An inmate who escaped from the Monroe Correctional Complex last week is back in jail after authorities following a tip from a hiker tracked him down in the woods.

King County sheriff’s Sgt. Cindi West said Monday that 37-year-old Brandon Musto was booked into Snohomish County Jail. He had been on the lam since escaping from a minimum security unit Wednesday.

West said a male hiker called police Sunday afternoon to report seeing Musto near the Rattlesnake Ridge trailhead near North Bend. Police said Musto borrowed the man’s phone to call his mom. He then ran into the woods.

SWAT and K-9 teams searched the area and found Musto at about 7 p.m. He was treated at a hospital for a dog bite to his leg before Snohomish County deputies took custody of him.