Washington state prison escapee arrested in Nevada

An inmate who escaped from a Jefferson County prison on Saturday was arrested today in Reno, Nev.

Michael D. Johnson, 22, was arrested at a Greyhound bus station in Reno after agents with the U.S. Marshals Service surrounded the bus he was riding in, according to the state Department of Corrections (DOC). Three people were also arrested in connection with the escape.

Two women are accused of picking up Johnson outside the prison and driving him to Portland. Another man was arrested after meeting up with Johnson in Portland and arranging for his lodging, according to DOC spokesman Chad Lewis. That man was under DOC probation, which he violated by contacting Johnson.

Lewis said Johnson was tracked to Reno through "information sharing" between local and federal law enforcement. Johnson is in custody at Washoe County Jail in Nevada.

Johnson was serving time at the Olympic Corrections Center on the Olympic Peninsula for drug possession and illegal possession of firearms when he escaped. His earliest prison release date was December 2009.

Johnson will soon be returned to Washington and moved to a higher security prison, Lewis said. He will likely be tried for escape in Jefferson County, DOC said.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com