ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 28, 1993                   TAG: 9311280098
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Short


PULASKI INMATE, MISSING SINCE AUGUST, IS FOUND

A Pulaski County inmate on the loose for three months after escaping custody while attending a family gathering is back in the county jail.

Kevin Todd Hall, 31, was found Friday night at a friend's home near New River Community College, Sheriff Ralph Dobbins said.

"We're happy to report he's home and doing well," Dobbins said.

Hall has been free since Aug. 21, when Circuit Judge Dow Owens allowed him out on a $25,000 bond for five hours. Hall's father had asked Owens to release his son for a family get-together at the Robinson Tract Community Center.

A jury had sentenced Hall to 12 years in prison in July after convicting him of malicious wounding. The jury also fined him $25,000.

Dobbins said he and four deputies went to a trailer on Black Hollow Road at about 10 p.m. Friday after receiving a tip that Hall could be found there.

Dobbins said he saw Hall look out of one of the trailer's windows. He must have realized, Dobbins said, that "he had nowhere to go other than jail."

Dobbins said Hall was arrested without incident when deputies entered the trailer.

"He was in bed, acting like he was asleep," Dobbins said.

The sheriff said an investigation is continuing. He said he would consult with Commonwealth's Attorney Everett Shockley to determine whether others should be charged with helping Hall escape and elude authorities for three months.

Conditions of Hall's five-hour bond had stipulated that he be in the presence of a police officer at all times. But Hall left the get-together by making his way out of a deputy's sight and apparently escaped into some nearby woods.



 by CNB