TEXARKANA, Ark. -- The shooting of an escaped Bowie County, Texas, inmate by Texarkana, Arkansas, police in March was justified, according to a ruling issued by prosecutors.
Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell penned a letter to Chief of Police Kristi Bennett about the March 21 shooting of finding that the officer's decision to use deadly force against Michael D. Olson was reasonable under the circumstances.
Olson, 30, and Wayde Burton Land, 37, went missing sometime the night of March 20 or early March 21 from the second floor of the Bowie County jail annex behind the Bi-State Justice Center in downtown Texarkana. The men broke through cinder block, climbed along pipes and exited through a hole they knocked in an exterior wall, according to earlier reports from police.
On the morning of March 21, the men were confronted by two Texarkana Arkansas Police Department officers near 210 East St. after a citizen who recognized Olson flagged an officer down. Land complied with the officers' commands. Olson did not.
"Lane was arrested without incident, but Olson resisted arrest, attempted to flee and was tackled to the ground," a press release from TAPD spokesman Kelly Pilgreen states. "During the ensuing altercation, Olson was able to gain control of one of the officer's guns while they struggled on the ground. The officer, realizing that Olson had his service weapon, was able to eject the magazine and discharge the chambered round."
The second officer fired a shot after Olson continued to ignore commands to comply. Olson died at the scene.
Mitchell reviewed investigative reports prepared by Arkansas State Police Special Agent John Rhone and police body camera footage in arriving at her conclusion. In her letter to Bennett, Mitchell said it is "clear" the officer's actions were justifiable "considering an escaped inmate was struggling" with the other officer and attempting to take his gun.
Mitchell found that the second officer's actions were necessary to ensure the safety of both officers involved.
At the time of his escape, Olson had approximately 210 days to serve on a misdemeanor sentence for assault.
Land was being held in the Bowie County jail on a charge of burglary of a building at the time of the escape. In addition, Arkansas authorities had placed a hold on Land for warrants in Miller County involving probations he was serving there for breaking and entering and theft of property.
Land was facing a maximum of two years confinement in a Texas state jail on the burglary charge. In Arkansas, Land faced up to six years on each of the probation revocations. Records show he has pending cases of commercial burglary, breaking and entering and theft of property in Miller County.
Land is being held in the Miller County jail. A warrant on an escape charge for Land remains active in Bowie County. He faces two to 10 years in prison if convicted though prosecutors may seek to increase the punishment range based on prior felony convictions.