drove him to salisbury and today took him to clifton t. perkinsr mental testing. >> there is no indication at that -- this time whether it was planned in advance or impull sif act -- impulsive act in the moment.

clifton t. perkins psychiatric hospital when watson broke free. his handcuffs and the waist chain strewn beside the van. >> they lost sight of him in the woods. we were able to establish a k9 trail so we know what direction he was heading. kevin: police used k9 to sniff out his escape path in the industrial park of the warehouses and the railroad tracks. authorities confirm they found his all white clothing but the convict is at large. he had been serving 100-plus year sentence in a delaware prison. but yesterday the county picked up the felon on maryland charges. drove him to salisbury and today took him to clifton t. perkins in jessup for mental testing. >> there is no indication at that -- this time whether it was planned in advance or impull sif act -- impulsive act in the moment. and weighs 140 pounds. he has a tear-drop shaped tattoo below his right eye. establishing mark. no doubt. at 6:00, we will look at the prisoner transport protocol to see if this incident could have been avoided. live in jessup, i'm kevin lewis, abc7 news. larry: than

that's the latest from clifton t. perkins hospital. back to you. >> thanks, chris. >>> if you are a current or former d.c. government worker, you want to check your pay stubs. >> district officials tell news4 they failed to withhold social security and medicare taxes for hundreds of employees. >> mark segraves reports this problem goes back at least ten years. >> it's one of the many line items on your pay stub, the taxes withheld for social security and medicare,s it as much as 8% of your pay. a recent audit found an error in the retirement system, c that line to be omitted on some d.c. employees' paychecks. the director of the d.c. department of human resources tells us the problem dates back as long as ten years and spans all d.c. agencies and has impacted hundreds of current, former, and retired d.c. government workers. >> i am so sorry about it, because i can imagine what kind of a blow this would be to someone, especially someone who is living from paycheck to paycheck. what i would say to them is, this is the right thing to do,

watson was being transported to clifton t. perkins hospital for evaluation before trial on those charges. he's previously been found incompetent on other charges that date back to 2012. two detention officers in a white van brought watson here for a 10:00 a.m. appointment. when a guard opened the door, watson shoved him aside and fled. >> does it happen often that a prisoner escapes? >> no, never here before in the last years i've been working. >> reporter: police searched a truck looking for the escapee. there are a lot of industrial parks in this area. >> are you concerned? >> i don't know. no, i know they're going to do their job out there. we've got some very goodic him. >> reporter: now, ahead, how the prisoner escaped his handcuffs and waist chains to make his escape. back to you. >>> frightening ordeal there. chris, thank you. >>> meanwhile, hundreds of d.c. government employees may not have been paying social security and medicare taxes for as long as a decade. the district government's accepting responsibility for this error

today officers were moving watson from a van into the clifton t. perkins hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, he pushed the officers and made a run for it. he had been wearing handcuffs and a waist chain but somehow got them off. we will keep you up to speed on this nh been 15 years since the most powerful tornado in the history of maryland devastated the town of la plata. who can forget this home video of that fast moving twister carving a path of destruction for tens of miles. >> five people died as a result 69 tornado, dozens more were injured and hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed in and around downtown la plata. >> now 15 years later the town is celebrating its recovery. wusa9 anchor bruce leshan begins our -- bruce johnson begins our live team coverage from la plata where in about an hour they are going to mark the exact moment that the tornado struck that faithful sunday evening. hi, bruce. >> reporter: hey, leslie. the people out here like to say not only did they survive that tornado of 2002, this town is driving in all the signs ou

he was being transported here to clifton t. perkins psychiatric hospital for evaluation. two detention officers were in the white van when watson escaped at 9:40 this morning. >> a guard opened the door after the van stopped in the only occupant, pushed the guard to the ground and ran into the woods. we did find handcuffs and a waist chain on the scene. >> reporter: police with guns drawn, searched a truck looking for the escapee. at this jess up asphalt plant, a supervisor tells me, they spotted a white van this morning. >> one of our truck drivers saw the guy jump out of the fan and go into the woods. >> and which way was he heading? >> out by pawtuxet range road. >> reporter: police say watson was wearing all white, sweat pants and a thermal shirt which searchers have recovered. they don't think he has a weapon. there are a lot of industrial parks in the area. some of the businesses have been searched. >> we got a phone call from the howard county police department that there was an escaped prisoner. that's what -- we saw the helicopters flying around ever since. >> ha