By Noah Feit
The Charlotte Observer
CHESTERFIELD, S.C. — A second of the four men who recently escaped from a jail in South Carolina was arrested, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Anton Conway Bennett, who was among the inmates who escaped from the Chesterfield County Detention Center Oct. 15 , was charged with multiple new crimes, the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
SLED said that Bennett was taken into custody in Halifax County, North Carolina — which is north of Raleigh and more than 200 miles from the jail.
Two days after the jail break, fellow escapee Emanuel Planco was arrested in Columbia, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
A manhunt is ongoing for the two other inmates who escaped from the Chesterfield County jail. Kyonne Marquise McLeod and De’Shawn Malik Fox are the other inmates who escaped, according to the SLED.
Information about how they escaped was not available.
It is predictable that inmates will try to escape from jail, but through officer teamwork, it is preventable. In this tip, risk management expert and Lexipol co-founder Gordan Graham discusses what that teamwork should entail.
Bennett arrested
Bennett was arrested Oct. 17, the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office said. But law enforcement officers didn’t immediately realize the man they had in custody was one of the escaped inmates.
That’s because Bennett gave false information to the Roanoke Rapids Police Department when he was arrested in North Carolina on possession of stolen goods and resisting arrest charges, according to the sheriff’s office. That prolonged his identification as an escaped inmate, but after that was accomplished, Bennett was also charged with identity theft, the sheriff’s office said.
Bennett was being held at the Halifax County Detention Center, according to the sheriff’s office. Information about possible extradition to South Carolina was not available.
Planco arrested
Planco was taken into custody after Richland County deputies were alerted about a suspicious person possibly breaking into vehicles in the 1400 block of Willow Oak Drive. That’s about 75 miles southwest of the jail.
Following a car pursuit and foot chase Planco was arrested and charged with failure to stop for blue lights and siren, reckless driving, possession of a stolen vehicle, grand larceny, burglary and financial transaction card theft, in addition to an escape charge in Chesterfield County and the charges that originally led to his arrest and incarceration in the jail.
Manhunt
The search for McLeod and Fox is ongoing.
Anyone who sees the escaped inmates is warned not to approach them, according to SLED. Instead, they are asked to call 911. If someone has information on the escaped inmates’ whereabouts, they’re asked to call the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office at 843-287-0235.
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