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Prison escapee under lock and key

Contributed

Robert W. Herrmann

By Richelle Bailey | The McDowell News

Published: June 28, 2009

A prison escapee's flight Friday didn't take him very far.
Sam Dotson, the unit manager of the Marion Minimum Security Unit on N.C. 226 South, said Robert W. Herrmann, 32, fled through the woods while on work detail mowing the grass at the facility Friday.
Prison employees discovered Herrmann missing during a head count at 9:30 a.m., Dotson stated.
N.C. Department of Correction tracking dogs and handlers, other prison officials, deputies with the McDowell County Sheriff's Office and officers with the Marion Police Department immediately began searching for Herrmann.
A sheriff's deputy located the inmate at the Nebo Travel Store at Exit 90 off Interstate 40, about 2 miles from the prison, a couple of hours later, according to Dotson.
"We really appreciate the assistance we received from the Sheriff's Office and Marion Police Department," he said.
Prison records show that Herrmann is serving an 11-year, 2-month sentence for being a habitual felon. He was scheduled for release in March 2012.
According to DOC, he's been previously convicted of breaking and entering, larceny, assault on an officer, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, interfering with tombstone markers, child abuse, injury to personal property, disturbing graves and uttering forged papers.
Dotson stated that the inmate has been placed at the maximum-custody unit on Old Glenwood Road pending an investigation. He added that Herrmann will likely face a felony escape charge.