Escaped state prisoner will be on 'America's Most Wanted' TV show Saturday

Jody Thompson, who escaped Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City three months ago, will be featured on the "America's Most Wanted" television show Saturday.

A spokesman from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police robbery division said Thompson was believed to be in the Las Vegas area after his escape and committed two or three new robberies. But detectives believe he left Southern Nevada after nearly being caught in September.

The TV show airs 9 p.m. Saturday on the Fox Network, and detectives are hoping someone will recognize Thompson and tell authorities his whereabouts.

Thompson, 24, was serving multiple sentences for robbing a series of bars when he escaped by hiding in the back of a Prison Industries delivery truck Aug. 25. He was seen by a convenience store clerk in Fallon later that day but eluded searchers in the area and returned to Southern Nevada where he was raised.

Metro Police thought they had him Sept. 3 when a man resembling Thompson was spotted outside a home they were watching in southwest Las Vegas. The man and a female suspect fled in the car, then on foot after crashing into another vehicle.

The male suspect broke into a nearby home and took the resident's car, escaping the police who were pursuing on foot.

On Oct. 7, police acting on a tip raided a home near the Henderson city limits. Thompson wasn't there but two suspected associates were. One of them was arrested on drug charges.

Lt. Ted Snodgrass, head of Metro's robbery division, said at that time Thompson was suspected of two new Las Vegas robberies and one in Nye County.

He said Thompson is "polite and very much in control" when he robs a bar, but he believes the escapee will use a gun if necessary.

"I'm afraid somebody's going to get hurt," he said.

The prison's inspector general is still investigating exactly how Thompson got out of the South Carson City prison.

n Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.