Inmate who escaped prison in Davidson County apprehended in Madison

Johnny Casey, Asheville Citizen Times
·2 min read

MARS HILL - Buddy Harwood, who has served the position since 2009, has seen a lot of stuff go down in his time as Madison County sheriff.

But what happened in the early morning of Nov. 11 ranks up there with the wildest, as Madison County Sheriff's Office deputies apprehended an inmate who had escaped from a Davidson County correctional facility.

Around 1:10 a.m. Nov. 11, officers apprehended Johnny Porche, 46, in the Paint Fork area of Mars Hill.

According to Harwood, Porche escaped Nov. 8 from Davidson Correctional Center, a minimum-security state correctional facility with a capacity of 258 detainees located in Lexington.

How Porche escaped was unclear as of the afternoon of Nov. 11, as officers at Davidson Correctional said Warden Dwayne Baker was out of the office and would be returning Nov. 14.

According to Hawood, Madison County Sheriff's Office identified a potential stolen vehicle from Eastern North Carolina that Johnny Porche was possibly driving. Deputies located the stolen vehicle abandoned in the Paint Fork area of Mars Hill. Once the vehicle was located, a call was sent out to alert and warn all the residents of that area of the potential threat.

Harwood said he had reason to believe Porche, a former resident of Madison County, would be returning to the area.

"We knew that he would be coming back to Madison County," Harwood said.

Harwood said MCSO officers apprehended Porche with the assistance of North Carolina Department of Public Safety's Prison Emergency Response Team.

"The prison’s PERT team kept the area situated for a period of time," Harwood said. "I knew that when they backed off we could get him arrested.

"It’s kinda like hunting. When you have a lot of pressure on stuff, they won’t move. But when the pressure is gone, they’ll pop their head up and start to move around. That’s when we were there to arrest him."

Harwood said NC DPS officials transported Porche to an undisclosed location.

Porche was scheduled to be in court in Madison on Nov. 14 for felony probation violation, but he could have additional charges coming, according to the sheriff.

"We will be charging him with possession of a stolen motor vehicle," Harwood said.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Inmate who escaped prison in Davidson County apprehended in Madison