Escaped inmate captured at Kannapolis hotel

KANNAPOLIS, NC — An inmate who escaped custody in Orange County was captured in Kannapolis early Friday morning.

The North Carolina Department of Public Safety released a statement saying Ramone Alston was found at the Microtel Inn on Cloverleaf Parkway around 2 a.m.

Shortly after, Jacobia Crisp was arrested in Alamance County and charged with felony aiding and abetting a fugitive.

Alston escaped a transport van Tuesday as it arrived at the UNC Gastroenterology Hospital in Hillsborough, N.C.

Alston will be charged with felony escape from prison and is being taken to a high-security state prison to continue his murder sentence. 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.

Channel 9 spoke with a Microtel Inn employee who said Aston was with a woman when he was caught.

He had checked into the hotel on Thursday and was staying under a different name, according to the employee.

“Yes, it was under the female’s name, and another person had checked her in, and yeah, there were no red flags or anything like that. I checked him in, and there were no problems or anything like that. So I had seen him a few times and everything like that,” employee Audrey Richardson said.

She said law enforcement broke a window to the room Alston was staying in before throwing some sort of gas bomb. The smoke from this gas bomb caused the alarms of the hotel to go off. Alston was then taken into custody.

“I’m just glad that, you know, somebody got taken off the street that can, you know, not harm anybody, and we can feel a little bit safer, and it just, yeah, makes you really realize and be thankful that nothing did happen here,” Richardson said.

The transport officers involved are being interviewed to gather more details on Alston’s escape. Investigators said they are also looking into if he committed any other crimes while on the run. Alston will await a court appearance for escape charges.

“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,” North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections Secretary Todd Ishee said. “This was an incredible collaborative effort of many people and agencies.”

This is a developing story. Stay with Channel 9 for updates.

VIDEO: Convicted murderer escapes while receiving medical care at hospital

Convicted murderer escapes while receiving medical care at hospital

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