A woman serving time in Connecticut escaped from a federal prison and was on the run for about 45 minutes before local police caught up with her, prison officials said Wednesday.
Xiaoqin Yan, 30, a Chinese national, escaped from FCI Danbury around 7 p.m. Tuesday night, but was found by local police and returned to the low-security facility around 7:45 p.m.
Prison officials did not provide details on how she escaped, but said an FBI investigation is underway.
Yan was sentenced in March to eight and a half years in prison after she was convicted of illegally possessing a firearm and setting fire to an Alabama church in September 2021. The building sustained at least $25,000 in damage, but no injuries were reported.
Prosecutors said during her 2023 trial that she’d had multiple encounters with church staff and behaved unusually before the incident, at one point being escorted off the property. A search of her residence later turned up gas containers, starter logs, lighters and a handgun.
No motive for the arson was given.
Yan had been in the U.S. on a student visa, but her visa was revoked following her arrest.
With News Wire Services
