Escape attempt ends in capture

April 3, 2007

By Russell Stigall

Frontiersman

PALMER - A weekend jailbreak was over almost as quickly as it started.

Two Inmates fled from authorities Saturday night but were free for only about 70 minutes.

Just before 7 p.m. Saturday James Sugar, 37, and Eugene Bourdon, 29, escaped their confines at the Palmer Correctional Center. By 8 p.m. they were both back in custody.

Both escapees face new charges of second-degree escape, a class B felony.

Troopers searched the area for the inmates with help from a Wasilla Police Department K-9 unit and the trooper helicopter Helo 1, which flew in from Anchorage.

An eyewitness who did not want to be identified said Bourdon was running alongside the Glenn Highway in his prison attire near Mile 57 at about 7:20 p.m. The witness said Bourdon was running slowly and appeared to be tired. Shortly after, Bourdon was chased into the woods and caught. He spent 40 minutes in flight and covered approximately five miles.

Sugar was caught in an hour and ten minutes near where Bourdon was captured. He was arrested without incident.

The escapees are being held at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility.

Sugar has been in and out of prison since at least 2003. He had been convicted of second-degree theft after pleading no contest in June of 2005. Driving infractions violated his mandatory parole and he was sent to Palmer Correctional Center.

Bourdon, a registered sex offender, had his parole modified in January. Bourdon, who is also a repeat offender, was sentenced to 15 months in July 2006 for failure to register as a sex offender.

They're looking at a possible three- to four-year sentence for escape, but it is yet unknown what they will be charged with, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Richard Schmitz.

Generally, people who are in Palmer Correctional are in minimum custody and typically are close to being released.

&#8220They'd have to want to go back to jail to escape,” Schmitz said.

Troopers would not discuss the way in which Sugar and Bourdon escaped. Lt. David Tracy said the department would rather not give other inmates ideas for escape.

Contact Russell Stigall at 352-2267 or russell.stigall@frontiersman.com