Teen convict caught after escape
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 24, 2012 1:46 PM
Full Size
Ishmael Jamal Bunch
A 16-year-old Wayne County youth with a history of violence was captured without incident at a Dudley residence late Thursday night just hours after escaping by overpowering two Department of Public Safety officers who were taking him back to a juvenile facility in the western part of the state.
The escape had people in the Leslie Road community west of Goldsboro nervous, since that is where the suspect and accomplice broke into a house and handcuffed a homeowner when he interrupted them during the break-in.
Ishmael Jamal Bunch had been sentenced earlier in the day Thursday in Wayne County court on juvenile charges. William Lassiter, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, said he could not comment on the juvenile charges or sentencing.
He did say that Bunch has a history of violence.
Bunch was charged with second-degree kidnapping, common law robbery, felony breaking and entering, felony escape, assault on a government employee and jailed under a $100,000 bond in the Wayne County Detention Center.
Two accomplices were charged as well.
Alexander Rickey Shaw Jr., 18, 405 Cardinal Drive, and Dearron Dequan Strickland, 18, 306 S. Herman St., were both charged with second degree kidnapping, common law robbery and felony breaking and entering.
They were both placed in the Wayne County Detention Center under a $75,000 secured bond.
Lassiter said the department is conducting an investigation to determine if its policies and procedures were followed.
He said it was his understanding that Bunch asked the officers for water. When they stopped the vehicle near Leslie Road on U.S. 70 West, Bunch was able to get out of his handcuffs and overpower the two men, one of whom was injured.
Lassiter said he did not know the extent of the injuries, but that the man did go to the doctor.
Policy requires that an inmate be in handcuffs and shackles, Lassiter said.
"It did appear that he must have had a key," he said. "When they leave the facility there is a full body search, so we don't think that he had the key when he left (Stonewall Jackson Youth Development Center in Concord)."
The department is investigating if Bunch somehow gained possession of what is called a "universal key" that unlocks handcuffs, he said.
Lassiter said it is not clear when Shaw and Strickland joined Bunch.
He said that the Leslie Road resident told officers that he found two people, one of whom was Bunch, in his home. Lassiter said he knew the man was scared, but did not know of any injuries.
"I understand they messed up his house pretty good," he said.
At some point the second accomplice arrived, and the three left by car.
Lassiter said he did not know the details of the search, but that Shaw and Strickland were captured first and probably talked to officers.
Law enforcement attempted to find Bunch by using technology to track his cell phone, he said.
Bunch was arrested at approximately 11 p.m. at a residence in the Rollingwood Subdivision in Dudley. His capture was initiated by a joint effort of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit, (Helicopter "Raven") Wayne County Sheriff's Office SWAT Team and the North Carolina State Bureau Of Investigation.
Shaw and Strickland were located and arrested at a residence on Dell Drive in Dudley at approximately 5:30 p.m. During this arrest, property that was reported stolen from the residence was recovered.