Fugitive granted bond

A Florida fugitive who escaped from a work center 30 years ago was finally arrested Saturday - then released on bond Monday.

The Missouri judge's decision to release Oscar Richardson has outraged the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which had trumpeted Richardson's arrest. Richardson was caught as part of the "12 Days of Fugitives" campaign, which was started Dec. 7 to catch the state's oldest and most violent prison escapees.

"I am shocked and extremely disappointed by the irresponsible decision of Judge Tony Williams to allow Oscar Richardson to post bond," said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey in a statement released Monday night. "Allowing this fugitive to walk out of a courtroom after hiding from authorities for 30 years diminishes the seriousness of his crimes and shows a lack of sensitivity for those he victimized."

On Jan. 28, 1977, Richardson held up two employees of a Tampa Eckerd Drug at gunpoint and demanded money from the store safe. He then robbed a Tampa convenience store on March 1, 1977, holding a gun to the store clerk and demanding that she fill a bag with money.

He was soon arrested and sentenced to 10 years for armed robbery, serving two years before he escaped from the Kissimmee Work Release Center in March 1979.

Authorities said he moved to Missouri and has lived in a home for 26 years in Ridgedale, Mo., which is south of Branson, Mo.

Richardson, 61, was living under the alias Eugene Ward and worked in maintenance, using a false Social Security number, officials said.

He had a long-term relationship and has an adult child living in Missouri, said Jim Madden, Special Agent in Charge of the FDLE Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center, at a news conference held Monday afternoon.

Madden said that shortly after starting the "12 Days of Fugitives" campaign, tipsters called the toll-free hot line to offer information on Richardson's whereabouts. Richardson is the first escapee captured under the program.