Bad information leads law enforcement to wrongly name man who escaped custody - WECT

PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - The Pender County Sheriff’s Office has responded to an incident that led law enforcement to wrongly identify a man as a suspect who was armed and had escaped custody.

A day later, they retracted that statement.

But how did this happen?

The Pender County Sheriff’s Office provided a statement, and it seems to come down to is a case of bad information, possibly given to them by another law enforcement agency.

According to the PCSO, “At 7:46 pm on Sunday, February 27th, Pender County Deputies were dispatched to a report of a domestic violence situation occurring at the Scotchman store located at the corner of US Hwy 17 and Country Club Road in Hampstead. While responding to the location, deputies observed the vehicle that was reported to be involved in the altercation at the Scotchman store.”

Deputies then followed that vehicle into a parking lot, and made contact. Two people were in the car, a male driver and a male passenger.

“During the course of the investigation, the male passenger was detained, placed in handcuffs and placed in a patrol vehicle. At some point during the investigation, the unidentified male subject escaped from the patrol vehicle and fled the area,” according to PCSO.

Almost a day after naming the wrong person and warning people that he might be armed, the sheriff’s office said they had named the wrong individual.

When asked how this happened, Sheriff Alan Cutler sent a written response.

“During the course of this investigation, my deputies continued to work to identify who it was that had escaped from our custody. We utilized available resources including other law enforcement agencies who have had prior interactions with persons involved in this investigation who were known to law enforcement, meaning positively identified,” Cutler said.

“The name of the individual who was initially identified as a suspect was provided to our agency during this investigation. Based upon information that was known at the time, we released the information to the media. Further investigation ultimately revealed that the first person identified was not who we were looking for. My office continues to investigate this matter and I ask that anyone with information related to this case, please contact our office at 910-259-1212,” he concluded.

The man the PCSO initially named does have a criminal history. The sheriff’s office did not state what law enforcement agency provided them with the wrong man’s name.

The PCSO sent an updated photo of the man they are looking for.

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source: https://www.wect.com/2022/03/01/bad-information-leads-law-enforcement-wrongly-name-man-who-escaped-custody/

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