Inmate who escaped work detail in Raleigh caught in Randolph County
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- An inmate on a work detail who slipped away Friday afternoon was back in custody nearly two hours later.
It happened around 3:15 p.m. at a warehouse on Leagan Drive, which is near Garner.
Ronnie Dwayne East, 41, is the man who escaped. The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction considered East a minimum-custody offender. He was serving a four-year sentence for breaking and entering and larceny in Randolph County. He was scheduled to be released in July 2026.
He was captured in Randolph County by deputies about 5:10 p.m. The vehicle he took, a 2023 white, four-door Ford F-150 pickup with no license plate, was also recovered.
Prison officials said East was caught in a wooded area near 2449 Ramsey Julian Road in Liberty.
Authorities were able to locate the vehicle through GPS, a Department of Corrections spokesperson told ABC11.
East will be taken to another correctional facility and charged with escape and vehicle theft.
