Bank robber pleads guilty to escape from Work Ethic Camp

McCOOK, Nebraska -- A former McCook Work Ethic Camp inmate who escaped the facility this summer, before being apprehended a few months later in Wyoming, pleaded guilty to felony theft and escape charges Monday in Red Willow County District Court.

The offender, 21-year-old Drew Steier, pleaded guilty to a pair of Class III felony charges for escape and theft by unlawful taking. Steier was subsequently scheduled for sentencing at 10 a.m. on March 3, 2014.

The escape charge stemmed from Steier going over the east perimeter fence of the WEC at just past 5 p.m. on July 5, 2013. The fence is a combined nine and a half feet tall when totaling fencing and three rows of barbed wire. Steier later told investigators he cut his left hand an upper stomach area while climbing over the fence. He said he removed his bloody pants and turned his shirt inside out during his walk towards McCook.

At the time of his escape Steier had served less than a year of a 1.5 to 3 year sentence that resulted from a botched robbery attempt of the Farmer's State Bank in Wallace, Nebraska.

Steier was originally convicted in Lincoln County on a Class III felony offense of attempted robbery.

The theft charge against Steier stems from a 1996 Subaru Legacy, belonging to Michael Brown of McCook, which Steier stole shortly after walking into town. Steier said he found the car in front of a residence with the keys under the driver's side sun visor.

The WEC conducted an emergency inmate count at 7:55 p.m. and notified the McCook Police Department shortly afterwards of the escape. Brown's vehicle was reported stolen at 7:19 p.m., roughly 35 minutes prior to the police department receiving word of the escape.

Steier told investigators he drove to North Platte and then headed towards Las Vegas, before running out of gas near Moab, Utah. Steier said he ditched the car at the junction with Interstate 70, near Green River, Utah.

The Subaru was recovered near Green River by Utah State Patrol officers on July 12, 2013, and identified as being involved in a gas drive-off in Ogallala, Nebraska.

Steier was arrested by the Evanston Wyoming Police Department at just before 3 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2013.

At the time of his escape Steier had served less than a year of a 1.5 to 3 year sentence that resulted from a botched robbery attempt of the Farmer's State Bank in Wallace, Nebraska.

Steier was originally convicted in Lincoln County on a Class III felony offense of attempted robbery.