Aberdeen woman accused of helping man escape from correctional center near Bismarck, N.D.
Authorities in Aberdeen have arrested escaped North Dakota inmate David Corn and an Aberdeen woman they claim helped him flee from the Missouri River Correctional Center south of Bismarck, N.D.
The series of events ended with a Wednesday night standoff in Aberdeen, according to the Aberdeen Police Department.
It's alleged that Emily Margolies, 35, admitted to authorities that she picked up Corn at the center Tuesday morning, according to North Dakota Highway Patrol documents.
Aberdeen police confirmed the arrests in news release.
Special response, crisis negotiations teams activated
While following leads to find Corn, Aberdeen officers and investigators learned that he might be at a residence in the 300 block of Sixth Avenue Southwest.
"Numerous attempts were made to get him to surrender peacefully and he refused to communicate with law enforcement," according to the release.
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Based on Corn's criminal history and other factors, the Aberdeen Police Department's special response and crisis negotiations teams were activated Wednesday. At about 7:55 p.m., Sixth Avenue Southwest was blocked between South Second Street and South Fifth Street as the crisis teams were deployed, according to the release. At 8:25 p.m., the police department's armored vehicle approached the residence and Corn exited the residence and was arrested without incident, police say.
Margolies faces escape-related charges in North Dakota
In North Dakota, Burleigh County authorities issued an arrest warrant for Margolies on Wednesday. She was arrested in Aberdeen around midday. Margolies is charged in Burleigh County with felony conspiracy to commit escape and accomplice to escape, court records show.
The North Dakota Highway Patrol said that during its investigation it learned from Dickey County authorities that Corn, from Forbes, N.D., was active on Facebook under the name Mitch Connor. He updated his profile picture Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., they said.
An arrest warrant was issued for Corn, 35, on felony charges of escape and conspiracy to commit escape.
Recorded telephone calls provide clues for law enforcement
Telephone calls recorded at the corrections center and reviewed by police after Corn left the minimum-security facility showed that he had made arrangements with a woman to be picked up about 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to an affidavit filed in the case by the North Dakota Highway Patrol. It noted that the woman said she would be driving a white Suburban.
Correction center officials notified the highway patrol that Corn left the center in a white, early 2000s Suburban with no license plates driven by a female with “very blond long hair.”
Information on the recorded calls included a phone number that officials confirmed belonged to Margolies, according to the affidavit.
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North Dakota troopers claim Corn later used Margolies’ phone to call a known drug dealer in Dickey County.
Corn pleaded guilty in April to fleeing police, drug possession with intent to deliver and unauthorized use of a vehicle. The charges were filed in Dickey County in November 2021. A judge sentenced him to three years in prison and three years on probation, court records show. He’d been at the center since May 26, had a scheduled good behavior release date of June 1, 2024, and a maximum release date of Nov. 28, 2024, according to the highway patrol.
This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: A Wednesday night standoff resulted in the arrest of an escaped inmate