It is not yet clear whether changes, if any, will be applied at Tillery Correctional Center in the wake of James Ladd’s escape Sunday, a state Department of Public Safety spokesman said this afternoon.
State Alcohol Law Enforcement agents and correctional officers captured Ladd this morning after he walked away from his job on the prison farm Sunday.
“I don’t know yet,” department spokesman Keith Acree said of any changes. “We’ll start looking in the next couple of days.”
It does not appear Ladd’s escape from the prison was as well planned as originally thought, Acree said, instead he just chose to walk off the farm. “That’s what he’s telling us.”
Details of capture
Ladd
Prison Emergency Response Team officers and Alcohol Law Enforcement agents captured Ladd just before 11 a.m. today in Halifax County about 10 miles from the prison farm where he escaped Sunday.
Officers and agents were following up on a tip along Highway 125 near Scotland Neck when a passing motorist stopped and alerted them about a man he had just seen running from the woods toward a nearby home.
The teams immediately responded to that home and began a search of the property around it.
Ladd was found crouched down in an open garage attached to the house and taken into custody without incident.
Ladd will face charges for escape from prison and internal prison disciplinary charges.
The search for Ladd over the past four days was a collaborative effort of the Division of Adult Correction, Alcohol Law Enforcement, the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, State Highway Patrol and Wildlife Resources officers, Acree said. “The agencies involved would like to thank the public for the many tips received that eventually led to Ladd’s capture.”
Details on the tip
The fence Ladd is believed to have scaled.
The tip officers responded to was one made after a family in the area had a possible run-in with Ladd Wednesday night.
Brent Bass and his son Corey were riding four-wheelers when they came in for the night. They locked the vehicles up and then went inside, locking the house door behind them. “That’s something I preach to my family,” Mr. Bass said, “To lock the deadbolt. I have cameras and if someone comes into the yard I want to know who they are.”
This happened sometime between 6:50 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. “He waited until dark and tried to wrench the door knob.”
Mr. Bass’s daughter, Lindsey, in an emailed message to rrspin.com said, “Corey heard the back door jingling as if someone was attempting to force entry. Corey ran to get my mother, and she saw that the door was trying to be opened. He must have heard my brother yell for dad so I guess he panicked, then fled.”
After one unsuccessful call to authorities Wednesday night, Mr. Bass made another call to the prison this morning.
Some 20 cars and officers with dogs came to the residence this morning. “They traced the scent and we searched for a couple of hours.”
Mr. Bass said he was impressed with how the bloodhound worked on a 14-hour old scent.
Lindsey said nothing was missing from the residence that they know of. “His shoe prints are in the sandbox in the backyard and on the other side of the fence where we think he hopped it.”
Mr. Bass said the officers involved in the investigation confirmed the shoe prints match the kind Ladd would have worn.
Another shot of the prints.
Details on Ladd’s inmate status
Ladd, 51, of Iredell County, was serving three consecutive life sentences in connection with robbery and shooting deaths of two men on a Yadkin County farm in 198o, according to Acree.
Ladd was within his rights to work on the farm, the department said in a statement released Tuesday. “North Carolina’s prison system classifies inmates into three main custody levels: close medium and minimum. All inmates, with the exception of those sentenced to death or life without parole, have the opportunity to work their way into minimum custody and prepare for their eventual release.”
Promotion to minimum custody requires an inmate to be within 5 years of a release date or parole eligibility date. In addition, consideration is given to their prison behavior and participation in work and programs.
Life sentence inmates also must receive a risk assessment prior to consideration for promotion. There are four levels of review for a lifer prior to receiving a decision by Prisons Section management.
There are 382 inmates with life sentences currently classified in minimum custody.
All of these inmates were convicted for crimes committed prior to November 1994 when the law allowed for parole. Of the 382 there are 343 of those inmates are currently parole eligible.
These lifers are not all murderers; some are serving for rape, robbery, assault or other crimes for which a life sentence was possible under the old laws.
“Tillery Correctional Center’s main mission is housing life sentence inmates who are promoted to minimum custody,” the statement said. “Many of these inmates work in prison farming operations. Over the years Tillery has been very successful at providing work opportunities for these inmates and transitioning them to other minimum-security prisons for their eventual parole and reentry into society.”
Inmate farm workers are supervised, but not continuously monitored.
There are farm staff that give inmates their work assignments and monitor their work and a roving correctional officer who checks on inmates periodically.
Depending on their job assignment, some inmates have direct supervision and some have graduated to a level where they are checked on periodically.
