Escaped inmate caught in West Palm Beach

Ronald McCoy escaped from Dade Correctional Institution last week

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Escaped inmate Ronald McCoy was apprehended Monday in West Palm Beach after a three-day search.

Police originally received a tip that McCoy was seen inside a supermarket. When officers arrived, McCoy had left.

McCoy was then arrested an hour later at a nearby gas station after a West Palm Beach police officer spotted the stolen maroon Ford truck -- the the same truck he used as his getaway vehicle following his escape last week.

Authorities had been searching for McCoy, 39, since he escaped from the Dade Correctional Institution in Florida City on Friday.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents said they believe McCoy hid in a dumpster after leaving the prison.

McCoy, who is serving a life sentence for a robbery with a deadly weapon conviction, was unaccounted for during a routine inmate account.

"The Department of Corrections takes very seriously its primary mission of protecting the safety of Florida's families," FDLE secretary Michael Crews said in a statement. "I'd like to express our deepest gratitude to the FDLE and all of our law enforcement partners for their steadfast diligence and skill in apprehending escaped inmate McCoy. DOC is continuing to investigate the matter in order to ensure such an escape does not happen again."

Pictures showed McCoy in handcuffs in the back of a patrol car after in West Palm Beach.

Anyone with any information about McCoy's escape is asked to contact the FDLE regional office in Miami at 305-470-5500.

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