[UPDATE: Members of the prison staff and Gastonia Police Department captured Meeks around 5:40 p.m. in Gastonia.]
GASTON COUNTY, N.C. – Law enforcement officers in Gaston County are searching for an inmate that escaped from prison Friday, officials said.
According to the NC Department of Public Safety, Tony Meeks escaped from Gaston Correctional Center in Dallas.
Officials say that Meeks is serving a nine-year, 11-month sentence in connection with a conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon. He was scheduled for release in September 2020. Authorities said that Meeks is from Gaston County.
Anyone who has seen Meeks or has information about his whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the Gaston Correctional Center at 704-922-3861.