BROKEN BOW, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have captured a prisoner who stole a court transport van when it stopped in Broken Bow.

Police Chief Steve Scott said the man was found in a field around 10:30 a.m. Monday, about seven miles south of the Custer County community. Scott identified the man as 28-year-old Richard Coons.

Scott says Coons was being driven from the state prisons department’s Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in Lincoln to Valentine for a hearing when the van driver stopped at a fast-food restaurant and went inside. Scott says the driver apparently left the van running, which let Coons get into the driver’s seat and drive away. The van was found empty south of town.

Court records say Coons was scheduled for a preliminary hearing later Monday in Cherry County Court.