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Inmate who escaped from Meck Co. Jail: ‘It was easy to just walk out'

By Greg Suskin, wsoctv.com
By Greg Suskin, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Darryl Young, 38, claims he was just bored when he opened a door to a maintenance closet at the Mecklenburg County Jail in uptown and escaped.

The jail was locked down on the night of April 23 when an officer noticed Young was missing from his cell on the sixth floor.

(Click PLAY for a clip of Suskin's interview with Young)

Initially, the sheriff's office called what happened an escape attempt and said Young was "out of his pod," according to a statement.

It did not mention an inmate leaving the building.

Young called Channel 9 to tell his story, saying he had actually escaped from the jail, and made it onto the streets.

“Last week's incident where an inmate attempted to escape from the Mecklenburg County Jail was unfortunate,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Thankfully, a detention officer observed Darryl Young breaching a secure area by accessing an exterior door. While our staff acted quickly in apprehending Darryl Young, this incident gave us an opportunity to reevaluate policies and procedures to ensure it does not happen again. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate. Given the nature of what has occurred and because this is a sensitive matter and we do not wish to compromise our security measures, we cannot comment further.”

(Click PLAY for a clip of Suskin's interview with Young)

The new statement makes it clear that Young did escape from the facility.

"I didn't think it would be so easy just to literally walk out," Young said. "The lack of security there is a danger to the public."

Young said if he could escape, someone else could too.

He said he was in a sixth floor common area where his housing unit was, when he found an unlocked door that led to a maintenance closet.

"I found access through a ventilation shaft which led me through different parts of the back part of the jail," he said.

He climbed down ladders along that shaft from the sixth floor, mostly following pipes, going from floor to floor, until he reached the street level.

He walked out an unmarked steel door onto Fourth Street, close to the main public entrance to the jail.

He saw a detention officer and ran.

Young made it across the street to the old courthouse where the officer tackled him on the pavement. He was only out of the building for a few minutes.

Three days after his escape, Young was released on probation after serving seven months on a burglary charge.

He is now wearing an ankle monitor for the next six months.

When asked why he tried to escape if he was about to be released, Young said he knew it was only a misdemeanor charge.

"I never imagined I would actually find my way out of the jail," he said.

Young was charged with the attempted escape.

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