Corrections Officers Unaware Inmate Escaped, Court Documents Show
MANCHESTER, N.H. (CBS) – Corrections officers were apparently unaware that they had lost track of an inmate who escaped and tried to steal two cars in New Hampshire.
Kevin Gearhart, 50, was ordered held on $15,000 bail Friday after his arraignment on several charges via Skype from the Hillsborough County House of Corrections.
According to court documents, corrections officers were loading prisoners into a van Thursday morning when they say Gearhart hid behind a handicap accessible elevator inside the sally port, waited for the van to leave, then took off through the open door.
The deputies left the facility unaware that Gearhart was not in the transport van.
Despite being shackled on his wrists and ankles, authorities say he tried to break into a car on Valley Street. The owner scared him off, he crossed a busy four-lane street and then attempted to steal a woman's car at a gas station, police said.
Surveillance video from the gas station showed Melissa Desrameaux yelling at Gearhart as he allegedly tried to steal her pickup truck at a pump. She then alerted a store employee as Gearhart hobbled through the parking lot in his shackles and orange prison jumpsuit.
"When I came back out of the gas station this door was open and he was sitting inside the truck," Desrameaux told WBZ-TV. "He was digging around looking for keys yelling 'Where are the keys? Where are the keys?'"
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 Gearhart in a nearby Market Basket parking lot.
He was originally in custody charged with stealing a car on July 18.
At his arraignment Friday, he asked for lower bail than the $15,000 that was ordered, saying he has a drug problem and needs help.
Gearhart is due back in court for a probable cause hearing August 11.
There has been no comment yet from the Hillsborough County House of Corrections.
