Police searching for inmate who escaped from Connell prison

A Connell, Wash., prison reported the escape of an inmate Wednesday night who could be passing through the Spokane area on his way to Montana.

Rodney Harlan escaped from Coyote Ridge Corrections Center about 1:30 p.m. He was last seen at an Exxon station in Ritzville about 6:50 p.m., said Ruth Perkins, a public information officer with the minimum-security prison.

Harlan was convicted in 1996 of first-degree assault and was scheduled to be released in June 2007, Perkins said.

He is white, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 156 pounds, with a medium build, brown hair and brown eyes. His last known address was in Yakima.

Anyone with information about Harlan’s whereabouts is asked to call local authorities the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center at (509) 543-5800.