Inmate escapes; injures officer
By John Joyce
Published in News on March 20, 2014 1:46 PM
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David Jacob Lambert
An inmate in the Wayne County Jail on rape and other charges escaped from his cell Feb. 12, injuring a female officer in the process.
David Jacob Lambert, 28, 950 Herring Road, also briefly held the officer captive in the jail's control room. He is now charged with first-degree kidnapping, assault on a law enforcement officer, assault inflicting physical injury on a detention employee and assault inflicting physical injury on a law enforcement officer.
Jedidah T. Hayes, the officer held hostage by Lambert, was not seriously injured and is back on duty.
Lambert was transferred to Central Prison in Raleigh and was returned to Wayne County Jail Monday under a $200,000 secured bond.
Maj. Tom Effler said Lambert escaped by trickery asking for a tissue and then forcing the door open when Ms. Hayes gave it to him.
"He got out and chased her into the control room where he threatened to hurt her if they didn't let him out. There was a brief standoff between him and a few officers before they were able to get in and force him out of there," he said.
Several officers received minor injuries during the fight. All officers involved are back on duty.
Lambert is due in court May 19 on first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual offense charges.
He will appear in court April 2 on the charges stemming from the assault on the officers.