Two Inmates, One from Longview, Escape from Van in Florida

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) – Florida authorities are looking for two inmates, including one from Longview, who escaped from a van heading to Tallahassee. Walton County Sheriff’s officials say they were notified by a private company that transports prisoners that 30-year-old Michael Andrew Rotunno and 31-year-old James Thomas Banks escaped early Monday. Rotunno was being transported from Longview. The van had stopped at the Walton County Jail in the Florida Panhandle. Sheriff’s officials are assisting in the search. Local school districts also have been notified of the escape. Rotunno is charged with larceny in a building and delivering and manufacturing narcotics. Banks faces charges of unarmed robbery and escaping from jail. A Walton County Sheriff’s news release says the inmates were on their way to a facility in Jackson, Minnesota. Banks was on his way from Orange County, California.