After 4 decades as fugitive, ailing US man turns himself in

[webfact]

After 4 decades as fugitive, ailing man turns himself in
By BRUCE SCHREINER

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Frail and tired of leading a secret life for four decades, 66-year-old Clarence David Moore called police this week to surrender. The deputy who answered thought it was a prank. It wasn't.

Moore escaped from police custody three times during the 1970s and eventually settled into a quiet life, living in Kentucky since at least 2009. His health is poor from a stroke late last year and he has difficulty speaking.

When Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton showed up at Moore's house to make the "arrest," Moore was in a hospital bed. He broke down in tears. He told the sheriff he needed medical help.

"He looks like he's almost 90," the sheriff said.

A woman who had been living with Moore had no idea of his past. "She was just blown away when all this happened," the sheriff said.

On Wednesday, a woman who answered the door at the single-story ranch home declined comment. The modest neighborhood on the outskirts of the state's capital was dotted with brick homes with well-tended yards. Two sport-utility vehicles were parked in the driveway.

Moore was convicted of larceny of more than $200 in North Carolina in 1967 and was sentenced to up to seven years in prison, according to records from the Department of Public Safety. While working with a road crew in the Asheville area, he escaped and was recaptured in 1971. He escaped again the following year and was on the lam until he was apprehended in Texas in 1975. His third escape from a Henderson County prison was Aug. 6, 1976.

On Monday, after he called police, he was taken from his home by ambulance to a local hospital for evaluation and then to jail, where he remained in custody Wednesday.

"As soon as he saw us, he started crying," Melton said Wednesday. "He said, 'I just want to get this behind me. I want to be done.'"

Moore has declined requests for interviews.

Melton said he knew little about Moore's life before arriving in Kentucky, other than Moore spent time working on boats along the East Coast.

Neighbor Jim Clark, a former correctional officer, said he knew Moore by an alias. He was an attentive neighbor who would collect the Clarks mail for them when they went on vacation and let them know if they had left their garage door open at night.

"He was a nice neighbor. He was a very compassionate person. He didn't have any hatred in his heart toward anyone," Clark said.

Moore had lived in Frankfort since at least 2009, when he was involved in a traffic crash, Melton said. Moore was cited then for not having a driver's license. He didn't appear for his court date and was charged with contempt.

He went by the name of Ronnie T. Dickinson in that case, and has used other aliases.

Neighbor Richard Colyer said he knew Moore as Ronnie Dickinson. He said Moore was a private man who moved into the neighborhood three to four years ago. Sometimes Moore would sit on his front porch and wait for the mail.

The sheriff said he thought Moore's poor health factored into his decision to turn himself in. As he arrived at the jail, Moore thanked the sheriff for his kindness.

"He made some bad choices, but at the end of the day he wanted to make them right and he stepped up," Melton said.
___

Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-04-23

[Dannyboy666]

What a Joke, He just wants the Free Healthcare Now...

[alfalfa19]

cool hand luke

[maidee]

let him rot in a jail

now he wants free healthcare

just have a sign saying; sorry, we're full

[quandow]

Arrest him, throw him in jail for a day, then give him a "Humanitarian Release."

All this over larceny of $200. Sad indeed.

[Squeegee]

I hope if I ever make it to 90 years old I can also "put things behind me."

[sweatalot]

I hope if I ever make it to 90 years old I can also "put things behind me."

The trick is to make is to look like 90 when you are only 66 years old

Edited April 23, 2015 by sweatalot

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

you see nationalized healthcare is even helping law enforcement track down fugitives.

I hope all the US citizens will stop being so afraid of it now.

Next step is to reform those pesky death panels (oh wait that is just on FOX).

[Jimbo53]

What a Joke, He just wants the Free Healthcare Now...

Hmmm...So the guy doesn't deserve any help...never paid any taxes for all the years he worked??? and probably helped pay for the healthcare of 1000's of illegal immigrants into HIS country!!!

Maybe one day you will be down on your luck, and need a helping hand! and hopefully nobody will post such crap as you have done.

[Jimbo53]

let him rot in a jail

now he wants free healthcare

just have a sign saying; sorry, we're full

What a sick puppy you are!!

A minor offence committed almost 50 years ago, and he hands himself in, the guys almost cactus, and you make idiotic comments like that...get a life !

[Nayet]

Surely all the stuff he did in the 70s must be barred by a statute of limitations?

[Expat1]

"Let him rot in jail". Really ? For $200. Ok, he had the temerity to escape multiple times. Fair enough. But seven years for $200 does not sound like justice to me but then it was the US in 1967. It was fairly hard then on criminals, actually more hard on smaller ones then bigger ones. Americans can not abide punk thieves. Americans like really BIG thieves as can be evidenced today. I am with the guy that said arrest him and have him do a little time, a day and a few weeks, then out. I am sorry he got old badly but, obviously he was not that bright to begin with, I mean who gets caught stealing $200? Send him off, why should the taxpayer foot the bill by keeping a man in prison or hospital who is obviously not a threat to society?

[NeverSure]

Surely all the stuff he did in the 70s must be barred by a statute of limitations?

Not a conviction and not an escape.

BTW the OP says the theft (larceny) was for more than $200. It could have been $100,000. A state will have a threshold over which a crime is a felony rather than just a misdemeanor and that threshold was mentioned. We don't know how much it was.

The county will have to pay his medical bills. Once he's in custody he is the responsibility of the jurisdiction which arrested him. The OP says it was the sheriff who is the chief law enforcement official of the county. When the sheriff showed up at the guy's house the guy said he needed medical help.

I wouldn't be surprised if a judge releases the guy for "time served" to save the county from his medical bills. Time will tell.

[Dannyboy666]

What a Joke, He just wants the Free Healthcare Now...

Hmmm...So the guy doesn't deserve any help...never paid any taxes for all the years he worked??? and probably helped pay for the healthcare of 1000's of illegal immigrants into HIS country!!!

Maybe one day you will be down on your luck, and need a helping hand! and hopefully nobody will post such crap as you have done.

. Stop the bleeding heart crap, your on TVF, I would read your previous posts , but I'm sure I'd get all Misty...

[Credo]

For some of programs, your name is going to be fed through a data base and if you have outstanding legal issues, you will be arrested. If he needed to apply for medical assistance, he was probably facing the inevitable.

[Tywais]

Surely all the stuff he did in the 70s must be barred by a statute of limitations?

BTW the OP says the theft (larceny) was for more than $200. It could have been $100,000. A state will have a threshold over which a crime is a felony rather than just a misdemeanor and that threshold was mentioned. We don't know how much it was.

Yep. Some states as low as $50 for grand theft felony, some many thousands of dollars is the threshold.

Grand Theft

[ezzra]

Amazing how all those criminals are hiding behind the phrase of ' made bad choices in life'

aren't we all making choices in everyday we live on this plant, and some are not a good one,

but we don't go around committing crimes and being fugitives from justice,, you have made

your bad, now lie in it....

[Steely Dan]

Escaped three times! They should give him time off if he helps the prison service deal with its obvious security issues.

[FredNL]

The court gave him a message in 1967:

"Don't steel, the government doesn't want competition !"

[thaibeachlovers]

Arrest him, throw him in jail for a day, then give him a "Humanitarian Release."

All this over larceny of $200. Sad indeed.

How does he get 7 years for $200????

There are some heartless people here aren't there.

You can get life for less with the 3 strikes your out policy in some states.

Nothing to do with being heartless. Just fed up with paying taxes to support bums.

[zydeco]

$200 in 1967 would be around $1500 today because of inflation. If someone took $1500 from me, I would want the creep off the street and behind bars for a long time. And if its someone who make a jailbreak three times on top of it, I would want him behind bars permanently.

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[ableguy]

I hope if I ever make it to 90 years old I can also "put things behind me."

They said he looked ninety, not that he was.

[NeverSure]

Arrest him, throw him in jail for a day, then give him a "Humanitarian Release."

All this over larceny of $200. Sad indeed.

How does he get 7 years for $200????

There are some heartless people here aren't there.

One more time. The theft was for more than $200 and could have been $100,000. It also may not have been his first offense.

"Moore was convicted of larceny of more than $200 in North Carolina in 1967."

The "more than $200" was undoubtedly mentioned to say it wasn't just petty theft, $200 probably being that threshold.

Cheers