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Two men were arrested Wednesday in connection with the Monday escape of a Kosciusko County Jail inmate. The escaped suspect remains at large.
Ronald Wayne Redden Jr., 24, of 1829 Nye St., Warsaw, and Cy Daniel Stump, 22, of 322 N. CR 900E, Pierceton, are being held in the KCJ on charges of aiding, inducing or causing an offense and aiding, inducing or causing escape with bodily injury.
Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine said the two men helped 26-year-old Deandre Armour of Fort Wayne by waiting for him at a predetermined location near Kosciusko Community Hospital, where Armour was taken Monday night for treatment of high blood pressure and a complaint of chest pain.
Redden, who previously was an inmate at the KCJ, and Armour apparently worked out the plan while they were cell mates. Information learned from Redden during an interview Tuesday implicated Stump, Rovenstine said.
Armour was handcuffed and wearing leg shackles Monday when he was placed in a van to be transported from the jail to KCH. During the ride to the hospital, Armour sat slumped over and somehow was able to remove his leg shackles. When they arrived at the hospital, jail officer William Sherwin was struck with the van door while he attempted to open it to remove Armour from the vehicle.
Armour was last seen running southbound from the hospital, and searches of the area by police officers and a K-9 track were unsuccessful. Armour's alleged accomplices reportedly waited for him in the parking lot of the Pill Box, which is southeast of the hospital. They then allegedly drove him to a location in Fort Wayne.
The escape assistance was reportedly provided in exchange for a promise the men would receive $115,000.
Armour was being held in the KCJ while awaiting trial in Whitley County for his alleged involvement in an armed robbery of a Columbia City bank. Armour and several other men were apprehended near Pierceton after the July 27 robbery.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Armour should call the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department at 267-5667 or any other police agency. Armour is described as a black male, 6 feet tall and weighing 175 pounds, with black hair, goatee and mustache and brown eyes. He was still wearing handcuffs when he fled from custody and was dressed in jail-issued clothing.
