PARSONS, Kan. (AP) — A convicted rapist who was in the last stage of his treatment escaped from custody by threatening a state hospital worker with a plastic knife as they were returning to a state hospital after he had a job interview.

Randy Eugene Snodgrass, 58, escaped Monday after he pulled out the knife while he and the worker were in a van returning to the Parsons State Hospital and Training Center, Labette County Sheriff Darren Eichinger said.

Snodgrass and the driver were the only ones in the van. He cut the driver's neck with the plastic knife and demanded that she pull over and let h...