Chief: Why inmate decided to escape

ALLEGAN, Mich. (WOOD) - Authorities said two inmates who escaped from a minimum security Lake County correctional facility did so because one of them was afraid to go back to prison.

Gregory Bradshaw and Kenneth Grauman escaped the Lake County Residential ReEntry Program on Saturday evening.

Grauman was allegedly the mastermind of the escape, according to Allegan Police Chief Rick Hoyer.

Grauman had only 74 days left on his sentence before the breakout.

But while in the reentry facility, Hoyer said, Grauman heard his fingerprints had been matched to evidence from a methamphetamine lab and that he was going to be sent back to prison. That's when he decided to escape.

Authorities still don't know why Bradshaw, who had only 30 days left on his sentence at the time of the breakout, agreed to escape with Grauman.

The two men did know each other before they entered prison and are both from Allegan County. Bradshaw's grandfather told 24 Hour News 8 he thought the pair "hated each other."

A representative from the Michigan Department of Corrections told 24 Hour News 8 via email on Friday that the pair broke out through a fence at the facility. That fence has been secured once again and MDOC Spokesperson John Cordell said in the email that the reentry facility has a different type of security than a prison would have since it houses parolees.

He went on to write that "there is currently no plan to enhance physical security measures at the facility."

He said there is an investigation into the escape and there will be a report.  

Since making a break for it, the two have led police on two high-speed chases and are thought to have stolen four vehicles in two states. They were last spotted at a Kroger in Kokomo, Ind.

==Watch above: New dashcam video of police chasing the escapees on Monday in Allegan County.==

Hoyer said there is no proof that one of Grauman's fingerprints was found at a meth lab.

"Not to my knowledge we haven't heard anything that would confirm that being accurate," said Hoyer. "[Grauman] thought he was being sent back to prison."

Which he now likely will, when the escapees are caught.

There's no word on the exact charges they will face, but the list keeps growing. Police know they have stolen guns, broken into several homes, stolen cars and led several police agencies on high speed chases.

24 Hour News 8 also wanted to know if the drug that started it all was involved in any way.  

"Just based on our past experience and our contact with them yes there's probably methamphetamine involved I mean its such an addictive drug," said Hoyer. "I've got to believe that that's part of the mix at this time."

Hoyer said authorities do have proof that the escapee's girlfriends, Laura Grauman and 17-year-old Brittany Rector, went with the men willingly and on their own.

Rector's mother told 24 Hour News 8 on Thursday that she thought that if Rector had gone with the men, she had done it out of fear.

The four are now thought to have left Kokomo, Ind. in a silver 2006 GMC pickup truck with a Purdue license plate on the front. That truck was stolen Thursday from where it was parked by a farmer along a Kokomio road. There were two rifles in the truck.

The escapees are considered armed and dangerous.

The US Marshals are offering a $1,500 reward for information leading the capture of the escapees. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 and may remain anonymous.

Bradshaw's grandfather, meanwhile, said he doesn't think Bradshaw is dangerous.

A letter he got, written by Bradshaw when he was in the reentry facility, says that Bradshaw had been reading the Bible. Bradshaw writes in the letter it was good news that he was reading the Bible and taking Bible studies.

Bradshaw's grandfather also said that Bradshaw had written to his parents to try to convince people back home that he had changed at that they should trust him.

But Bradshaw's grandfather said he didn't think Bradshaw had changed. Bradshaw's grandmother was trying to believe in her grandson.

Bradshaw's grandfather also pointed out that Bradshaw has escaped many times from both adult and juvenile facilities.