Updated: Authorities say a man who escaped from Piedmont Correctional Institute early Monday was captured today just a few miles from the prison.
Jonathan Dixon, 27, was discovered missing from the prison’s minimum-security facility — known as the “low rise” — around 4 a.m. Monday. He is serving a seven-year sentence for multiple counts breaking and entering, among other crimes.
Keith Acree, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Public Safety, said it appears that after escaping, Dixon stole some clothing from a Department of Transportation facility next to the prison. A work jacket with the name “Haywood” on it was missing from the facility.
Dixon was found around 10:30 this morning in a building on Auction Drive, off Webb Road near Interstate 85.
Acree said members of the Prison Emergency Response Team were searching in the area when they noticed a broken window at a local business. Upon entering the building, they found Dixon and he surrendered without resistance.
Dixon will face charges for the escape as well as additional charges for break-ins and burglaries he committed while on the run, Acree said.
Three schools — Southeast Middle, Knollwood Elementary and Koontz Elementary — went into “code yellow” lockdown this morning after someone reported seeing Dixon in the area.
A code yellow lockdown means that class continues as usual, but all doors to the school building are locked and secured, students do not leave the building and there are no outdoor activities. Parents may enter the school.
Southeast Middle and Knollwood Elementary were both also in Code Yellow lockdown yesterday.