"Barefoot Bandit" who stole airplane leaves prison for work release

SEATTLE - The man who became known as the “Barefoot Bandit” during a teenage crime spree in stolen cars, boats and planes has been transferred from prison to a work-release facility.

KOMO-TV reports  that the Washington Department of Corrections confirmed Colton Harris-Moore’s transfer Wednesday from prison to Reynolds Work Release in Seattle.

He’s expected to work for his lawyer, John Henry Browne, and will be required to check in and out of the work-release facility.

Harris-Moore, 25, reportedly earned his nickname because he left footprints at the scene of some of his crimes, was sentenced in 2012 to seven years in prison in a deal that consolidated most of the charges against him. His spree began after he escaped from a Renton juvenile halfway house in 2008; he was ultimately captured after crash-landing a plane that he stole in Indiana and flew to the Bahamas.

In an April interview with 48 Hours, Harris-Moore said he wants to someday design and build airplanes: “I love airplanes. It’s an obsession and I was born with it.”

A high school dropout, Harris-Moore said he eschewed formal education in favor or reading and learning on his own. “You can teach yourself anything. I write, design and read all the time, and I’ve been doing that for 5 and a half years,” he said.