ORANGE COUNTY, N.C. — A prisoner serving a life sentence for murder who escaped from a transport van earlier this week was captured Friday at a North Carolina hotel, authorities said.
Ramone Alston, 30, escaped from the van on Tuesday as it arrived at the UNC Gastroenterology hospital in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he was being taken for a medical appointment. He freed himself from his leg restraints and fled into the woods with handcuffs on, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
During a media briefing Friday afternoon, Todd Ishee, the secretary of NCDAC, said it's unclear how Alston broke free of his leg restraints. An internal investigation will help determine what happened. Ishee added the investigation will help them make policy and procedure improvements for prison transports.
"How can we still deliver community standard healthcare, but be safer and make sure we do everything to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again," Ishee asked when discussing the goals of the internal investigation.
Alston was taken into custody at about 2 a.m. at the Microtel in Kannapolis, near Charlotte, about 110 miles (177 kilometers) southwest of Hillsborough, the department said in a news release, and no one was injured during the arrest.
“I am grateful to our DAC staff and thankful for the support and effort from hundreds of local, state and federal public safety officers who helped in the search and investigation that returned Alston safely to custody,” Department Secretary Todd Ishee said. “This was an incredible collaborative effort.”
WCNC Charlotte crews observed a second-floor window on the Microtel was shattered following Alston's arrest. Witnesses said officers deployed some sort of smoke bomb through the window when they arrived on the scene.
Some hotel guests were on edge after hearing the news that a fugitive and convicted murderer was staying at the same hotel as them. However, those nerves are subsiding now that Alston is back in custody.
"It helps you sleep easier at night, knowing that you don’t have to look over your shoulder wondering what the next person is, or what they're gonna do," hotel guest Scott Krimminger said.
Alston has been serving a life sentence at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor since his conviction in the murder of 1-year-old Maleah Williams, who was shot on Christmas Day in 2015 from a passing car while she was playing outside her family’s apartment in Chapel Hill. She died three days later.
Jacobia Crisp, who is described as an acquaintance of Alston, was arrested in Alamance County shortly after Alston's arrest. She was charged with felony aiding and abetting a fugitive. Crisp is currently out on bond as she awaits a court hearing in Orange County.
Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said the relationship between Alston and Crisp started about two months ago. He didn't say how they met, but said they mostly communicated by phone.
Crisp and Alston spent part of the week at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Kannapolis, which is next door to the Microtel. Audrey Richardson, who works there, told WCNC Charlotte she saw the two eating breakfast.
"He didn't set off any red flags with me or anything like that," Richardson said. "It's scary knowing that they're out and my question is, how did he escape the way he did?"
She said she was relieved nothing happened at the hotel. Employees of the hotel told WCNC Charlotte police showed up at the hotel looking for the two. They had already checked out by then, but employees said a hotel worker gave officers Crisp's information, which led to Alston's arrest.
Alston will be charged with felony escape from prison, and was being taken to a high-security unit in the state prison system, the release said.
Anyone else who helped him also could be charged. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff's Office at 919-324-1082.
Contact Richard DeVayne at rdevayne@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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