Sometimes things are not always as they seem. This may have been the case when a convicted sex offender escaped from police custody while being transported across the country. The man was facing several charges for sex offenses.
From law enforcement's point of view, the man managed to free himself from a locked van cage and took off. He had been with several other prisoners at the time that had all been in the restroom when he escaped. While the assumption is likely that he was escaping to escape, the man had a different explanation.
After authorities realized he was gone, they launched a search of the surrounding area to try to find him. Even with the help of night vision technology, it wasn't until the next morning that a deputy saw the man in a barn. According to the local police, the man ran into a tall field of corn after realizing he had been spotted.
It took law officers and a group of farmers several hours to locate the man who had momentarily disappeared into the field. This was likely due to the size of the field (it was more than 300 acres) and the rows of corn that stood around 8 feet tall.
After being taken back into custody, the man expressed surprise at how intense the search had gotten. His explanation for why he escaped the van: he needed to eat more vegetables. He said that was hungry and, as a vegetarian, was not given enough food while traveling across the country. Apparently the corn field looked like a good place to get his daily serving of vegetables.
Source: CBS News: "Convicted sex offender captured in ND cornfield," Oct. 5, 2011