Kansas man in sex predator program used plastic knife to escape custody, sheriff says

A convicted rapist was in his final stage of rehabilitation and coming back from a job interview when he held a plastic knife to a state hospital worker’s throat and demanded that she pull over, Labette County Sheriff Darren Eichinger said.

Randy Eugene Snodgrass, 58, escaped at 11:31 a.m. on Monday. Snodgrass was a patient in the sexual predator treatment program at Parsons State Hospital and Training Center. The state-owned hospital was serving as the last stage of his parole before the 20-plus year prisoner was released back into society, Eichinger said.

Snodgrass was sitting in the passenger seat, heading back to the hospital from a job interview when he pulled out the knife, Eichinger said. Snodgrass and the driver were the only ones in the van.

“He attacked the driver of the van and cut her with a plastic knife,” Eichinger said.

She let Snodgrass out on U.S. 400 around Ness Road, near Parsons. At around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, roughly 14 hours after his escape, Snodgrass was arrested about 14 miles away by the sheriff’s office in neighboring Neosho County.

He was arrested on a Kansas Department of Corrections warrant as well as suspicion of aggravated escape from custody, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and kidnapping, Eichinger said.

The driver was taken to a hospital, treated and released, according to KDADS.

“This morning I want to extend a sincere thank you to local law enforcement officials for their effective efforts to keep the public advised and updated about this situation and their thoroughness in tracking down and taking Mr. Snodgrass into custody,” Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services Secretary Laura Howard said in a news release. “I believe their immediate and focused attention was critical to his capture.”

Snodgrass has 1991 convictions for rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records. He was paroled in August 2013 before going back to prison for violating parole in April 2015. He was released in August 2015 and has been on parole ever since. The KDOC records show Snodgrass transferred parole from Pawnee County to Labette County in December.