Story Archive

Officer Winter

Robert Vick, 42, was able to escape his prison sentences — six years for burglary, and five for possessing a forged instrument — but he did it during the North American cold snap. After being out for a while, he turned up at the Sunset Motel in Lexington, Ky., and sought help. “He said, ‘can you call the law on me?’ And I kind of looked at him. I thought he was crazy or something,” said Maurice King, the motel manager. King called the authorities, but “I don’t even think the dispatcher believed me.” Vick, frostbitten after a frigid night on the lam, was ready to be locked up someplace warm. After a hospital visit, he was returned to the nearby Blackburn Correctional Complex. (AC/WLEX Lexington) ...“If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison. They’ll have enough to eat, a bed, and a roof over their heads.” —Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States