Tip leads to arrest of prison escapee in Lynnwood on Friday

Published 9:26 am Friday, May 15, 2026

EVERETT — A man who escaped from the Monroe Correctional Complex overnight was taken back into custody in Lynnwood on Friday.

Samuel Evans Kimble, 25, was arrested around 12:15 p.m. by corrections officers and local law enforcement at the Lynnwood Transit Center, according to a press release from the Washington State Department of Corrections.

Kimble, a minimum security inmate at the prison, escaped before 11 p.m. on Thursday, an initial release from officials said. He was in jail serving a 27-month sentence for a felony charge of violating a domestic violence court order.

Law enforcement from the Department of Corrections and the Snohomish Violent Offender Task Force took Kimble back into custody without incident at the Lynnwood Transit Station after receiving a tip from the public, the release said.

Officers said he had injuries sustained from the fence line during his escape, according to a release.

Staff at the prison realized Kimble was no longer in the minimum security unit after a count of the facility’s inmates at 3:30 a.m., according to corrections officials. Officers then reviewed security tape to confirm the time of Kimble’s escape.

The Department of Corrections said it will conduct a review of how Kimble was able to escape.

Ian Davis-Leonard: 425-339-3097; ian.davis-leonard@heraldnet.com