Inmate tricks woman into helping him escape

NEW CASTLE, Ind. – An inmate accused of using forged documents to walk out of a state prison apparently duped a woman into helping him, police said.\nState police said Jared Bailey, 23, tricked a female friend into believing that his time in the New Castle Correctional Facility was up. The woman, whose name police did not release, came to the prison Feb. 17 with what was purported to be a court order for his release.\n“Right now we don’t have any indication that anyone else assisted with his escape,” state police Detective Scott Jarvis said.\nTwo days later, Bailey’s family tipped off authorities to his early release and he was arrested early Feb. 20 in Needham, Ind., a small Johnson County community about 20 miles south of Indianapolis.\nBailey was scheduled for release Nov. 23, 2008, on sentences for forgery, theft and receiving stolen property, according to information posted on the Indiana Department of Correction Web site.\nPrison spokeswoman Trina Randall said Tuesday that an officer on duty the night Bailey escaped told her that the woman showed an identification badge.\nJarvis said the woman told police she doesn’t have such a badge.\n“Right now there’s no indication she did show any type of badge or has possession of a badge,” said Jarvis, who added that authorities do not intend to file any charges against her.\nIt was not clear whether any prison employees might be disciplined for Bailey’s escape, which remained under investigation, Randall said.\nThe GEO Group, which manages the prison about 30 miles east of Indianapolis for the state, conducted its own investigation, but that report was confidential, she said.\nProsecutors in 2004 charged Bailey with forgery, saying he created his own court order while being held at the Monroe County Jail in Bloomington. Authorities said he created a fake court document lowering his bond to $500 from $100,000. The forgery was discovered when a friend faxed the document to the county jail, and authorities became suspicious.