Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 26, 1992 TAG: 9203260296
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Franklin Sheriff W.Q. "Quint" Overton said the two men apparently broke into a trailer home and stole a shotgun, but they were unarmed when they were captured.
Overton gave this account of the escape and search:
The two inmates from the Smith Mountain Lake Correctional Unit bolted shortly after 10 a.m. from a road gang working on Virginia 903 near Philpott Lake.
The armed guard fired a warning shot, but the men kept running.
The search included officers from the Department of Corrections, state police and sheriff's departments in Franklin and Henry counties.
State police dispatched an airplane and, later, a helicopter to the scene. Tracking dogs were brought in from the Bedford County Sheriff's Department and the Bland Correctional Center.
At 2:45 p.m., a Franklin County man discovered a break-in at his trailer, about three miles west of the escape site.
The man said clothing, a shotgun and shells were missing.
An hour later, a resident from the Jamison Mill Road area, about a mile west of the trailer, reported seeing two men run behind a house. Officers surrounded the area and found the inmates hiding in a thicket. They surrendered without incident.
The inmates were identified as Scott Robert Taylor, 21, of Bath County, who was serving time for breaking and entering and grand larceny; and Danny Lee Cundiff, 23, of Martinsville, who was serving time for statutory burglary and passing a bad check.
Taylor and Cundiff have been charged with escape, breaking and entering and grand larceny.
The two men were to be arraigned today in Franklin County General District Court.
by CNB