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Escaped inmate orders beer, asks bartender to call the sheriff

By Ben Hooper
Mitch's Place, the Paris, Ark., bar where escaped inmate Shaun Higham asked to be arrested. Screenshot: KHBS-TV
Mitch's Place, the Paris, Ark., bar where escaped inmate Shaun Higham asked to be arrested. Screenshot: KHBS-TV

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PARIS, Ark., July 7 (UPI) -- An Arkansas sheriff said an inmate who escaped custody walked into a bar, had some food and beer, and asked the owner to call authorities on him.

The Logan County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post Shaun Higham, 45, was arrested Tuesday about 9:15 p.m. when deputies responded to a call from the owner of the Mitch's Place tavern in Paris.

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The post said the call came shortly after a woman called authorities to report a man wearing "dirty looking scrubs and orange shoes" walking east on Highway 22, west of Paris.

Mitchell Ford, the owner of the bar, said Higham asked him to contact Sheriff Boyd Hicks.

"He came walking out of the dark and he said, 'Mitch,' and I said, 'Shaun, your picture is all over the TV," Ford told KFSM-TV. "[Higham] said, 'Mitch I know, will you help me turn myself in?'"

Ford said Higham was covered in insect bites and told him he hadn't eaten in eight days. Ford said he served the man food and beer while waiting for deputies.

"I asked him what happened to his prison outfit," Ford said. "He turned it inside out and you could see the stripes, that's how dirty it was. I couldn't tell from the way he was wearing it."

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The sheriff's office said Higham "didn't get to finish" his beer before being taken back into custody.

"He was very cooperative and apologetic. He was also tired, hungry and eat up with insect bites. He was transported back to the Logan County Detention Center where he is being held on his previous charges and numerous additional charges," the Facebook post said.

Higham, who was originally arrested on a charge of felony aggravated robbery, and Zackary Coffer, 19, escaped from the Logan County Detention Center June 28 by apparently picking the lock on their cell door. Coffer was recaptured later the same day.

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