A worn lock allowed two inmates to escape from a transport van in Raleigh last week, according to a North Carolina sheriff’s office.
“A door lock bar on a cage inside a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office prisoner transport van became worn over years of opening and closing and prematurely released as detention officers were transporting prisoners to several prisons around the Raleigh area,” the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Damarcus Dashaun Dixon, 19, and Logan Gene Long, 24, were found in a shed around 10:30 a.m. a couple of blocks away from Western Boulevard. They escaped from the van around 9:45 a.m.
Lincoln County Sheriff David Carpenter said the vibrations from the highway and traveling caused the bar to bump out of place and into the unlock position. From there, the prisoners were able to reach through a slim opening and release the back door on the van from inside.
The inmates were en route to Polk Correctional Center from a court appearance in Lincoln County.
Because of the incident, new security measures have been taken. Prisoner transport vans will no longer be able to be unlocked from the inside of the side and back doors.
Five other inmates were in the van at the time and did not try to escape.
