Inmate Arrested, Charged With Felony Escape in Manchester, NH

Kevin Gearhart, 50, was charged Friday morning with felony escape and also attempted theft for trying to steal a woman's car at the gas station while on the run

An inmate in Manchester, New Hampshire is back behind bars and facing a judge after escaping the Valley Street Jail Thursday morning still wearing his orange jumpsuit and shackles.

"It's just kind of weird, just kind of surreal," said Chris Aubin who works on Elm Street.

He was pulling into work Thursday morning when a flash of orange caught his eye.

"It was strange, he was in a full orange jumpsuit and when he turned around it said, 'Department of Corrections,'" Aubin explained.

What Aubin saw was captured on surveillance cameras at the AL Prime Gas Station. You can see 50-year-old Kevin Gearhart walking in full shackles wandering around downtown Manchester. It was unusual enough that even police are surprised.

"Certainly something new in my eyes, as well as many of my peers who have been here for a long time," said Manchester Police Lt. Brian O'Keefe.

According to court documents, Gearhart was being transported from the jail to the courthouse for a Thursday morning appearance, but somehow slipped out of the sally port without deputies noticing.

"It's very disturbing actually," said Randy Beliveau who also works on Elm Street.

"It's pretty scary," said nearby resident Maya Romero. "I want to know why."

It was just minutes before officers caught up with Gearhart and arrested him, again.

He was charged Friday morning with felony escape and also attempted theft for trying to steal a woman's car at the gas station while on the run.

"This side of town is a magnet for strange occurrences," Aubin said. "But that's got to take the cake right there."

Gearhart is being held on $15,000 bail.

NECN reached out to the Valley Street Jail as well as the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office several times throughout the day, but no one has returned our calls.

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