SPENCER, S.D. (AP) - An inmate who escaped from a prison van in southeastern South Dakota only had to walk past a sleeping guard to get away.
McCook County Sheriff Mark Norris said Thursday the Florida inmate escaped when the van was parked at a Spencer convenience store.
Norris says the driver was getting a bottle of water and the guard was dozing when the escape happened at about 2 a.m. last Saturday.
The van was operated by an Arkansas company that didn't respond to a request for comment.
The inmate is charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl that he met on Facebook. Oscar Antonio Herrera-Menjivar took a bag with his personal clothing when he escaped. People who saw him afterward said he wasn't wearing shoes.
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