Wife helps Wayne Co. inmate escape during trash pickup

DUDLEY, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A Wayne County Detention Center inmate escaped with the help of his wife Thursday while picking up trash on the side of the highway.

Deputies with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office said Joseph Doyle Perkins, 20, was on trash detail around 9 a.m. at the intersection of Woodland Church Road and Highway 13.

Perkins' wife, Layla Perkins, picked him up in a gold Ford Focus.

Detention officers called in the escape and vehicle description immediately. Shortly after, Deputy Michael Bleyer spotted the suspects' car at the intersection of Durham Lake Road and Oberry Road in Dudley.

Bleyer struggled to get Perkins into custody once the car stopped. Perkins reportedly ran across a field toward the woods and was able to escape again.

Wayne County deputies and the North Carolina Highway Patrol responded to the area to search for Perkins.

A trooper heard someone moving in the woods and found Perkins. He was taken into custody around 10:30 a.m.

Three local schools were put on lockdown as a precaution while authorities searched for Perkins.

Perkins was in the Wayne County Detention Center under a $32,500 bond for three counts of probation violation and one count of failure to appear in court. He was also serving a 60 day sentence for possession of a firearm by a felon.

Perkins now faces additional charges of felony escape from a local confinement facility, assault of a law enforcement officer, and resist, obstruct, and delay a law enforcement officer. He is facing an additional bond of $25,000.

Layla Perkins is charged with helping her husband escape and driving with a revoked license. She was also taken to the Wayne County Detention Center under a $5,000 bond.