Escapee caught in Duplin
By John Joyce
Published in News on November 12, 2014 1:47 PM
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Vadim Braybev
A man the Wayne County Sheriff's Office aviation unit helped the Duplin County Sheriff's Office locate and apprehend a month ago continues to await extradition to New York on possible escape charges.
A mental health court order might serve to extradite him instead.
Vadim Braybev walked away from a Staten Island psychiatric institute while on a day pass in July. He roamed free until authorities caught up with him in Warsaw in October.
"We're just waiting on the New York boys to get their stuff together and come down here and get him," Duplin County Sheriff Blake Wallace said today.
Braybev is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. He was charged in 1999 with murdering his mother using a clothing iron.
Wallace said he did not know whether Braybrev had been convicted of that crime or found incompetent to stand trial and if that was why he had been transferred to a psychiatric unit rather than housed in a general population prison.
"He seems to have all of his faculties. He doesn't act crazy," Wallace said.
Braybrev had the presence of mind to refuse extradition, which is his right, Wallace said.
"Now it's up to New York, in a situation like this you need a governor's warrant from the state seeking extradition. That's what we're waiting on," he said.
Braybrev had been riding the rails on a CSX freight train when he was spotted. He took off, leading Duplin deputies on a brief chase before the Wayne County helicopter was called in and he was located.
Wallace was not speaking from his office, but said he recalled offhand that Braybrev faces local charges of trespassing on CSX property and resisting arrest. Other charges may be pending.
Wallace said the typical wait time for an extradition is two weeks to 30 days.
"We are fast approaching the 30-day mark," he said.