Cable nets and local news stations in Santa Cruz, California are following a developing story: the escape of a prisoner–described as 6 feet 7 inches and 275 pounds–who overpowered a female sheriff’s deputy, stealing her gun and using a Taser on her.

According to local news reportes, the prisoner, identified as Maurice Ainsworth, was being transported to a hospital for a “medical procedure” when he managed to get the officer’s .40 caliber handgun. That weapon may have been used to fire a shot at a bystander as Ainsworth made his escape.

Craig Lynch, who escaped England’s Suffolk’s Hollesley Bay Prison in September, is using Facebook to brag about his freedom, posting a steady stream of status messages and rude photos to mock the authorities who have been after him for months. On Christmas, a tinsel-clad and shirtless Lynch flicked off the camera with one hand, and in the other, held a freshly cooked turkey. “‘If any of you was doubtin my freedom. Here’s proof. How the f*** could i get my hands on a bird like this in jail. ha ha,” he wrote.