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Escaped Inmate Attempts To Steal Car While Shackled

MANCHESTER, N.H. (CBS) – An escaped inmate was arrested in New Hampshire after he allegedly tried to steal two cars while still wearing his prison jumpsuit and shackles.

Thursday around 8:05 a.m. an officer was flagged down on Elm Street at Valley Street by a resident who pointed out a man wearing an orange inmate jumpsuit from Hillsborough County House of Corrections.

When the man saw the officer, he ran into a wooded area behind Prime Gas.

Kevin Gearhart
Kevin Gearhart in shackles at a gas station in Manchester, NH, July 28, 2016. (Surveillance Image)

Surveillance footage from the gas station shows Melissa Desrameaux yelling at the suspect as he allegedly tries to steal her vehicle at a nearby pump. She then alerts a store employee to the suspicious behavior as the man wanders through the parking lot.

"When I came back out of the gas station this door was open and he was sitting inside the truck," Desrameaux said. "He was digging around looking for keys yelling 'Where are the keys! Where are the keys!'"

Kevin Gearhart
Kevin Gearhart. (Image Credit: Manchester Police)

When she told him to get out of the truck, he listened.

"I told him that he was in enough trouble and he should probably just go back," Desrameaux said. "He kept telling me not to be afraid, there was nothing wrong, he was supposed to be out he was on work release."

A short time later, police arrested Kevin Gearhart, who was still secured in ankle and belt shackles, in the Market Basket parking lot.

Police later discovered that after escaping, Gearhart tried to break into a car on Valley Street. The owner scared him off and he then attempted to steal Desrameaux's car at Prime Gas.

Gearhart was brought back to the jail he escaped from. He will be arraigned on Friday, charged with escape and attempted theft.

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