A Pettis County inmate who allegedly hijacked a deputy’s patrol vehicle during transport to state prison this morning was later captured in Howard County, as were two other inmates who had been in the car.A Pettis County sheriff’s deputy was driving two males and a female inmate along Interstate 70 on the way to state prisons in Fulton and Vandalia, said Capt. Dave Keller of the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office.

Howard County Sheriff Charlie Polson said one of the inmates had persuaded the deputy to stop at a Cooper County rest stop. The inmate, Ronald W. Greer, 44, of Sedalia, then assaulted the deputy, grabbed his keys and weapon and unshackled himself, Polson said. The other two inmates remained in the back of the vehicle and played no part in the assault, he said.

The deputy was left on the side of the road and was later treated for injuries at Cooper County Memorial Hospital in Boonville, Keller said.

A Fayette officer spotted the vehicle, which headed north toward Glasgow and then south on Highway 87 at 100 mph. The vehicle entered a corn field and was abandoned.

Several law enforcement agencies participated in the search, which included a helicopter and canines. A farm family saw Greer running down a fence line, and he was taken into custody around 10 a.m. near Route K and County Road 314 in Howard County, Polson said.

A Pettis County grand jury indicted Green July 11 on two counts of armed criminal action, forcible rape and forcible sodomy and resisting arrest.

He made a comment to deputies that he was not going back to prison, Polson said.

All three inmates should have been in the backseat of the vehicle, where they are caged in during transport, Keller said. According to standard procedures, they would have been fully shackled with handcuffs, leg irons and belly chains.