KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Two escaped prison inmates from Louisiana took advantage of sympathy for Hurricane Katrina victims to pass themselves off to University of Tennessee students as fraternity brothers who had been displaced by the storm, police said.
Steven Ridge, 31, and Zachary Arabie, 22, were arrested in Knoxville last week after Ridge tried to buy gas with counterfeit money, authorities said.
Ridge and Arabie integrated themselves on the Tennessee campus, attending fraternity parties, dating students and renting an off-campus apartment, police said.
Ridge, serving a 10-year sentence for forgery and theft, and Arabie, serving 20 years for armed robbery, escaped Sept. 13 from prison in Ferriday, La., after using a Popsicle stick as a key, police Sgt. Sean Hejna said.
They stole two cars to get to Knoxville and showed up at the Lambda Chi fraternity house a few days later, police said. Ridge claimed to be a fraternity member from a graduate program at Tulane University in New Orleans. He even had a Tulane ID card.
“Who is going to deny the fact that someone is a refugee? We took them at their word,” fraternity president Sam Seyler said.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
