rexroad was not armed at the time he was forced into a utility truck. ross was tracked down in saint petersburg. they found the officer inside of a gas station after he

ross locked the other prisoners in this building and took rexroad hostage driving a stolen city truck they headed for 30 minutes no law enforcement agency knew what happened until the other inmates escaped. >> they were able to break the rope that was tying the door and get out as they came out there was a young lady that was sitting there in her car a couple of hundred feet away having lunch. >> reporter: they told her to call 911, then deputies and police swarmed the area from polk county to pinellas. police didn't warn the public because investigators were tracking the cell phone and didn't want the two-hour escape ended near a grocery store in pinellas county with no injuries. >> whenever my grandkids are here and they are out here working i take them in the house. >> debbie lives across from the park and wants to know why the officer wasn't armed and what the department of corrections will do in the future to keep her family safe. >> all this time these prisoners working here and you see what happeneded now. i mean it might happen again. >> that was michael paluska reporting. is

bartow police and polk county sheriff's deputies pinellas counties were on scene quickly when ey rexroad had been taken hostage by a prison inmate on a work debail. sam lives just across the street and knew something was wrong. >> undercover and police cars coming from everywhere. >> reporter: bartow police tell us inmate david ross used a utility knife to overpower rexroad and took him to hang. room they were locked in and flag down a motorist. >> reporter: police tracked ross to saint petersburg where he was driving a stolen bartow city truck. somehow, the guard managed to escape at a gas station, and police took ross into custody. after a brief foot chase. >> thank god they got the %-?de and, he is fine. >> reporter: ross is now facing a new long list of charges on a much longer prison sentence. jeff patterson, newschannel8. >>> a former bay area teacher who admitted having sex woman. stephanie ragusa walked out of prison today. jamel lanee shows us where she is now staying as she tries to get her life back on track. >> reporter: after spending about six years in prison, stephanie rag

rexroad was not armed at the time he was forced into a utility truck. ross was tracked down in saint petersburg. they found the officer inside of a gas station after he >>> it is just awfully good that someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law in our country. >> because you would be in jail. >> from wikileaks to accusations of sexual assault, the presidential nominees are laying it all on the line tonight. there was no handshake last debate. but will tonight's debate get uglier? we will find out soon. the nominees will face off at 9:00 tonight at the university of las vegas. >> that is joins us live in vegas. keith, vegas generally puts on a good show. so what are you hearing from tonight's debate? >> reporter: this debate promises to be something extra special. usually, third debates are kind of boring but you will probably see the zingers, probably a little more concise because what is going on at the parking lot. you can see all of the media here. i was in the spin room and you saw a lot of media in there. about 3,000 m

reporter: bartow police say 42-year-old inmate david ross used a small utility knife to overpower rexroad. he locked four other inmates into this building and used the guard's own handcuffs to take him hostage. >> the four inmates left behind were able to get out of the ross to saint petersburg where he was driving a stolen bartow city truck. somehow, the guard managed to escape at a gas station. and police took ross into custody after a brief foot chase. >> just thank god that they got the deputy. and, he is fine. >> reporter: yeah, david ross had been a minimum security inmate. he now faces charges of armed kidnapping of a correctional officer; and numerous other accounts. >> jeff patterson reporting live for us in thank you jeff. >>> new tonight, she is now a free woman. a former tampa teacher convicted of having sex with her students is out of prison. stephanie ragusa was released early after serving about six years of her ten year sentence. but, she can't live just anywhere. jamel lanee has been learning more about ragusa's new home. she joins us now live in pinellas county. hi jamel

lauren and corey rexroad decided to get a little creative on their first anniversary. you need to know -- they say they spend a lot of time in target...working on decorating their home. so...to celebrate year one...they went to target to recreate their wedding photos. lot ot do in their hometown of morgantown, west virginia. target appears to have welcomed the couple. they shared the pictures on social media as well. this is a cute story this morning. animal control officers in charlotte, north carolina have been helping animals in need after flooding hit the area. after they finished feeding a group of dogs they noticed one running behind their truck. the officers pulled over and saw this little brown dog. from the dog's behavior they knew he wasn't a stray. the dog was animal control where he is waiting to be picked up. he is not up for adoption yet. shelter officials are waiting to see if newspaper tease: tampa bay times and the ledger check this out: a miami man took top honors at the annual stone crab eating contest sunday in the cracked and ate 25 stone crab claw

. >> in the end, deputy jeffrey rexroad escaped when the two stopped at a gas station on route to pinellas county where the inmate was arrested. according to the department of corrections because these were trustees, deputies typically don't carry only pepper spray. >>> you drive off the lot and boom. it breaks down. coming up. plenty of you have been dialing better call behnken. >> also, ahead, we will explain the important list the bolts amendment 1 guarantees your right to generate your own solar energy. it also guarantees that those who don't choose solar don't have to subsidize those who do. amendment 1 means commonsense consumer protections safeguarding seniors-and all floridians from scams, rip-offs, and long-term contract traps. that's the right way to do solar. >> so, we already know this. the bolts are the best of the best. well, now it is official. the tampa bay lightning now have the number one spot in espn's annual ultimate team rankings based on criteria most important to the fans. paul r this story. just a few years ago, such an honor would be kind of unimaginable. >> report

investigators say david ross was on work detail when he pulled the shank on corrections officer jeffrey rexroad, even locked four other prisoners in even stole a city truck and drove to pinellas county with the officer as his hostage. he was caught about two hours after the ordeal started. david ross is set to be in court this morning and will face a long list of new charges. >>> if you're upset about sewage discharge in disst. petersburg, there will be hearings about these -- and we update its anti-panhandling ordnance. the judge declared uncons constitutionality part of the ordinance. aggressive panhandling or asking for money while standing at a road will continue to be illegal. >>> the pinellas county sheriff's office will partner with n.o.p.e. to host their annual candlelight vigil. it stands for narcotics overdose prevention and education. it remembers t overdoses. it will be held at largo central park tonight at 7:00. >>> you said nice things about me. if we got along well that would be good. >> he would rather have a 3u79. >> no puppet. no puppet. >> it's clear -- >> you're the puppet.

lauren and corey rexroad have been married for a year.. and since they spend so much time at target.. they decided to target. the couple says there isn't a lot to do in their small twon.. so they spend a lot of time a the store. they've also been decorating their first house with all things target. even more than you like target-- monica, i know you love starbucks.. but this guy... he needs his coffee.. and a little flood isn't going to stop him. this was taken in hong kong. the region has faced typhoons and flooding this week.. but that's not going to stop on man from reading his newspaper. after this photo surfaced on twitter the internet just had a field day. they photoshopped in jaws.. and even the better late than never. a postcard arrives 50 years after its postmarked. but at least the recipient didn't have to deal with this delivery man! what the recipient is now saying about the late delivery. it's hard to make the past dissappear, ...and the shady record that killed his chances every time. the property taxes tarkanian skipped out