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Prisoner escapes from custody – Metro US

Prisoner escapes from custody

A prisoner considered dangerous by authorities remains at large after escaping from custody during a transfer to a Halifax hospital yesterday afternoon.
Jermaine Carvery, 30, was transported by van from the Burnside jail to the Victoria General hospital for day surgery, Justice Department spokeswoman Sherri Aikenhead says. But he never made it inside.
“His escape occurred in between getting out of the van and going into the Centennial hospital,” Aikenhead said.
Although he was in handcuffs and leg shackles, she says he “was able to get out of one of the leg irons,” and outrun two correctional officers in the adjacent construction site.
Police and the province say Carvery, who was wearing casual clothes at the time of his escape, should be considered potentially dangerous.
The Halifax man faces 22 charges arising from a series of robberies, including a 2004 theft at a Costco, where two masked men bound and gagged 42 employees and made off with $250,000 in cigarettes.
“We wouldn’t suggest that anyone approach him,” Police spokesman Const. Jeff Carr said. “We would suggest that people contact police and let us handle it.”
Cross-referencing the province’s news release and the police report shows cops were called almost 25 minutes after the escape.
Carr says immediately after receiving the call, about 25 officers were in the area. “We were told guards had him in sight,” Carr said.
Police cordoned off a perimeter of about five blocks, and K-9 units were dispatched.
“We knocked on doors of all the residences in that area, we checked backyards … we weren’t able to come up with him,” he said.
Aikenhead says it’s been three years since a prisoner escaped.
“We take every incident very seriously and this will be reviewed thoroughly,” she said.
But Liberal justice critic Michel Samson is calling for a “complete review” of procedures at jails across the province.
rachel.mendleson@metronews.ca