How did a handcuffed, wanted man flee police at Sea-Tac Airport?

For Warren County Sheriff Brett Hightower, it’s normal to fly arrestees from other states into Kentucky when they’re facing charges there. But in the seven years since becoming sheriff, Hightower has never heard of one of those people escaping before their flight, as one did at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Sunday morning.

Two employees from Prisoner Transportation Services, a private company Warren County contracts with to transport people facing warrants, were escorting Sedric Stevenson, 28, through the airport when he ran away from them, Hightower said. The two employees chased after Stevenson, but before they could catch up, he boarded a northbound Sound Transit train.

Stevenson got off at the Capitol Hill station and hasn’t been seen by police since. Hightower said his agency will review Prisoner Transportation Services’ policies and procedures to determine “what transpired.”

“We’ve never had a situation like this before,” Hightower said by phone Tuesday. “But anything can happen.”

Prisoner Transportation Services did not respond to phone and email inquiries Tuesday. According to the company’s website, its employees transport roughly 30,000 incarcerated people for over 1,200 government agencies each year.

A phone number listed for Stevenson in court records was disconnected, and he did not respond to an email inquiry Tuesday.

Law enforcement agencies and the contractors they hire are not obligated to notify the Port of Seattle when they are transporting someone through Sea-Tac, Port spokesperson Perry Cooper said by phone Monday.

While such interstate transfers are common, they can escape other travelers’ notice, he said. In Stevenson’s case, security footage of the escape showed his handcuffed wrists hidden in the front of his sweater. He also wasn’t wearing ankle shackles, as airlines prohibit people from wearing them because they could prevent others from deboarding the plane during an emergency, Cooper said.

“It’s not unusual to have transportations of prisoners going on,” he said. “You may just not realize it’s happening.”

Sunday wasn’t the first time Stevenson has escaped his captors.

In November 2022, he reportedly fled from a Tennessee state trooper who had detained him on Interstate 65, running across the interstate and disappearing into the woods with his hands cuffed behind his back. In that case, he turned himself in days later.

Police in Bowling Green, Ky., a Warren County city, were the next to search for Stevenson, who has two arrest warrants from August 2023 for failing to appear for jury trials there. His charges include resisting arrest, being a felon in possession of a firearm and third-degree assault on a police or probation officer in July 2020, said Bowling Green police spokesperson Ronnie Ward by phone on Tuesday.

Stevenson was also charged with resisting arrest and assault in February, but failed to show up for a March 6 hearing in Seattle Municipal Court, records show.

On Feb. 8, someone notified Seattle police that Stevenson — who is also facing charges in Tennessee for aggravated robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm and eluding police — was working at Q Nightclub in Capitol Hill. Officers responded and found Stevenson standing outside at about 10 p.m., according to a Seattle Police Department report submitted to the city attorney.

When the officers attempted to arrest Stevenson, he allegedly tried to escape, striking one of the officers in the face using the back of his head, according to the report. Stevenson was released from King County Jail a week later, jail records show. After he failed to appear at his March hearing, Seattle Municipal Court judge issued a bench warrant for Stevenson’s arrest.

Stevenson was booked back into custody April 2 but released 18 days later after someone posted his $1,500 bail, jail records show. He was scheduled for a readiness hearing May 16, according to a Seattle Municipal Court record.

It’s unclear how Stevenson came into the custody of the two Prisoner Transportation Services employees before Sunday. But if Seattle police are first to find him, Bowling Green police will have to wait for him to face charges in Seattle before they can transport him back to Kentucky.

“We’re kind of back to square one,” Ward said.