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itl-\TS1-eyg2tdj-Jail EscapeMade BeforeFatally Shot1-r-alyieinD-'gr-2-2-illtoma,intsigmofig1-etorn-IV-chtyarbe!dieies-idr-id:rinitr-tsIS2,1CISISieiyt-t-2-iea:aBy MARTHA WILSON Progress-Index Staff Writer DINWIDDIE—A Dinwiddie jail prisoner, charged with' murder and other counts, picked the lock of his cell with two sharpened spoons and escaped Saturday njght, only to be shot and killed within the hour.Michael Ronald Evans alias Tommy Michael Manago, 19, escaped from . the Dinwiddie jail about 7; 15 p.m. and was shot some minutes later in nearby woods by two State Troopers. He was pronounced dead at Peters-burg General Hospital at 8:15.According to Dinwiddie Jailer Ronnie Reese, Evans made his escape about 7:15 after choking a trusty in the jail.'‘Around 7 or 7:15 3 heard one of the trusties hollering,” Mr. Reese said, “and when I went to the door (barred da or which separates the prisoners from the jailer) the boy (Evans) had his (trusty) around the neck choking him.”Mr. Reese said he struck the barred door with his hand ta get Evans’ attention and when he did, Evans released the other prisoner and ran down the hallway and into the kitchen.Called For Assistance Mr. Reese said he called the Dinwiddie State and Petersburg police for assistance “because I thought he was still in the jail.” Just before the police arrived, Mr. Reese said, he discovered the back door from the kitchen was open and Evans had disappeared.Evans' beret-type felt hat and two sharpened spoons with which he had picked the lock were lying on the ground beside the kitchen door, Mr. Reese Said.neck) and ran through the kitchen.Mr. Reese said he felt Evans may have picked the kitchen door lock earlier in the day, “because he got out of there so fast.” A Dinwiddie deputy and another jailer were at the jail in three minutes, Mr. Reese said, and Evans was alreadygone.According to other police witnesses, Evans ran behind the jail and into some woods, circled back around the jail and crossed U.S. Rt. 1 beside the Bank of Virginia at the courthouse.Witnesses told State Troopers C. W. Weaver and C. R. Harris, who were on the scene, that they saw Evans go across the road behind a house.The two troopers split up and circled around the house from different directions.Tpr. Harris approached Evans from the rear and ordered him to surrender, Tpr. Weaver related. Evans said “You’re going to have to kill me,” and ran back around the house into Tpr. Weaver’s path.Ordered Him To Stop Tpr. Weaver ordered him to stop and Evans kept backing away, saying, “You’re going to have to kill me.”Involved In ShootoutEvans had used the spoons to free the lock on his solitary cell, where he had been in confinement since April 18. Evans had been jailed in Dinwiddie by the Prince George police following a robbery and shootout with PrinceGeorge police at the Elhvyn Motelon Rt. 301 in Prince George.The trusty, Edward Branch, was in his cell reading a book, Mr. Reese said, when he saw Evans out of his cell.“You done seen me now,” Evans told the trusty (Mr. Reese said). “If you holler I’m going to kill you.”The trusty hollered anyway and Evans proceeded to choke him, drawing Mr. Reese’s attention. Evans released the trusty (who suffered bruises on hisTpr. Weaver said he and Tpr, Harris followed Evans for possibly a quarter of a mile through a wooded front yard, trying to get Evans to give himself up.Finally the two troopers and a civilian witness. Sterling Vaughan, got close enough to grab Evans. The three men struggled Evans to the ground, trying to .get handcuffs on him, which they were unable to do.Evans jumped away from thi men and grabbed the two troop ers' shotguns, which were lyini on the ground about five fee from the initial struggle.“Hold it, I’m going to kil you, Evans told the men.At that point, with the shotguns lowered at them, the two troopers both pulled their ,38 caliber pistols and both fired at Evans, who dropped the shotguns and staggered back, falling to the ground.The Dinwiddie Emergency Crew transported Evans to Petersburg, with Dinwiddie Investh gator Claude Mann riding in the ambulance.Mr. Mann said he did not know whether Evans died enroute to the hospital or not. Tpr. Weaver(Continued On Page 16}
Newspaper Details
Petersburg Progress Index
Petersburg, Virginia, US
Sun, May 28, 1972
Page 1
Full Page
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USA 28 May 2020
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