THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997              TAG: 9701100494
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   59 lines

JUDGE TO DECIDE FATE OF SUFFOLK MAN WHO SPECIALIZES IN ESCAPE BUT HIS RECORD MAY PRECLUDE HIS ESCAPE FROM TIME BEHIND PRISON BARS.

Last summer, the first time Cedric M. Dildy escaped from the law, he went home. The next month, when he escaped for a second time, he took a bicycle for a short spin through the woods, then went for a swim.

But on Thursday, there was no way out for Dildy, 20, in Circuit Court as Judge Westbrook J. Parker twice found him guilty of escape without force.

Dildy had been sentenced to community service, not jail, so he could not have been guilty of escaping July 27, the date of the first incident, said his lawyer, Denise Winborne.

He just got out of a Western Tidewater Regional Jail van that had stopped at a traffic light on Carolina Road one Saturday afternoon after he had helped pick up trash in the southern part of the city.

``Mr. Dildy jumped out of the van and said, `See ya later,' '' said Corrections Officer Anthony Thompson, who was driving seven prisoners doing community service.

Dildy said he was going home, said Thompson, who watched him walk around the back of the vehicle and head toward Saratoga Place, where he lived in the 500 block of Ashley Avenue.

But the prisoners were required to return to the jail and sign out to get credit for the day's work.

``He was under the officer's control,'' said Parker, disagreeing with the defense's argument. ``I think he's definitely in custody.''

The second offense occurred Aug. 14, after Dildy was arrested for his earlier getaway. Sgt. J.H. Blakeney was driving Dildy from police headquarters to the jail in the Elephants Fork section near the U.S. Route 58 Bypass and Route 10 interchange.

But Dildy made a break when they arrived and found the sally port, a secure entrance into the jail, disabled. Blakeney was preparing to walk his prisoner inside, when Dildy - in handcuffs - jumped out of the car and ran.

Blakeney and a number of other officers followed him through the woods near the 4-year-old jail, but Dildy rode away on a bicycle he stole from a nearby house. He later jumped into the nearby Nansemond River and hid in a marshy area, a bulkhead shielding him from the officers' view.

But a boater spotted Dildy and pointed him out to the officers on the bank. As Dildy tried to swim across the river to escape, the man in the boat cut him off, forcing him back to the waiting trio of officers.

``Did he have on handcuffs?'' the judge asked, grinning. ``I'm just curious.''

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney F. Jefferson James said Dildy had managed to slip one hand free.

Dildy's troubles began in June 1995, when he phoned a bomb threat to the Municipal Building. City offices, the police department and Circuit Court were evacuated for about 90 minutes.

He had been sentenced to community service on that conviction.

Before sentencing Dildy on the escapes, Parker ordered a pre-sentence report Feb. 21, and agreed to consider him for boot camp or detention rather than jail.

Because of Dildy's record, Parker said, he may not be able to escape time behind bars this time.

KEYWORDS: ESCAPE