BATON ROUGE — Law officers said Wednesday that they caught a state prison inmate who leaped from a van while being transported to a work-release site.

Shawn Simien, 34, was apprehended around 4:45 p.m. in an empty building off Maplewood Drive in the Glen Oaks area. He will be booked by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office on a simple escape charge.

Simien had been convicted on a first-degree robbery charge after being accused in Calcasieu Parish in 2019. He had been taking part in a work-release program pending his release from prison in August 2025.

Workforce officials said Simien jumped from the van Tuesday while it was near the intersection of Plank and Hooper roads.