Inmate who walked from a work crew will be returned to Idaho

The man who escaped an Idaho Department of Correction work crew in Moscow and was arrested in Pullman Tuesday night will be handed over to the state next week. 

Wayland Savage, 34, waived his right to extradition in Whitman County Superior Court Friday morning. He has been held at the Whitman County Jail without bail since Wednesday on an out-of-county warrant. 

The Idaho Department of Correction has sought after Savage’s return. The agency charged him with escape in the first degree, which demands he surrender to the state.

Law enforcement throughout the Palouse were alerted Tuesday afternoon that an inmate may be on the run. 

Moscow police say Savage had been on an IDOC work crew cleaning rooms in the University of Idaho’s Theophilus Tower when he reportedly walked away from the site. 

Savage had been a minimum security inmate at the Idaho Correctional Institution in Orofino. He was serving a sentence for the conviction of grand theft in Canyon County and burglary in Ada County. Savage was eligible for parole in 2026, and his sentence was to be discharged in 2032. 

Authorities from the Pullman Police Department, Latah County Sheriff’s Office, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and Whitman County Regional SWAT Team searched the campus building but didn’t find Savage at the scene. 

Savage was arrested in downtown Pullman later that night after officers received a report he may have been seen at Sunset Mart on Bishop Boulevard earlier that evening. 

Police found him on a trail near Pine Street Plaza that connects to the mart. 

Savage was held at the Pullman Police Holding Facility before being transported to the Whitman County Jail Wednesday morning. 

Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com