Prince George Co., MD - Escaped Inmate Overpowered Officer - Shoots Civilian w/ Officer's Gun - Steals DOT SUV - Suspect Shot Dead

Suspect Stole DOT SUV - Government Vehicle

Officer alone during inmate's escape
Sun reporter
10:34 PM EST, January 3, 2008

A prison inmate who escaped from a Laurel hospital was being supervised by only one correctional officer after his partner took a break and left him alone, police said Thursday.

The state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services is also investigating why Kelvin D. Poke was not wearing handcuffs when he overpowered two officers, took their guns and fled in a stolen vehicle Wednesday, setting off a manhunt that ended with his death seven hours later in a police shootout in a Prince George's County cemetery.  The SUV was a government vehicle from the district's Department of Transportation.

State leaders said Thursday that they are "seriously" re-examining whether correctional officers should be armed when standing watch over inmates during hospital visits. This week's incident was the second inmate escape from Laurel Regional Hospital in the past two months and came two years after a correctional officer in Hagerstown was killed by an inmate who snatched his gun.

Officials say two correctional officers are assigned to inmates taken to hospitals and must stay with them at all times: one who is unarmed and stays close to the prisoner, and another who is armed and watching the inmate. Such an arrangement is designed to keep the weapon out of reach of the inmate.

Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman, said Thursday that an officer assigned to watch Poke had "stepped out of the immediate area on a break." Poke then attacked an armed officer and took his .38-caliber pistol.

An officer assigned to another inmate heard the commotion and ran into the room. Poke pointed the gun at the officer's head and stole his weapon, before shooting off his shackles, taking a security guard hostage and bolting down a stairwell.  He then proceeded to highjack a Toyota Camry in front of the building.  He drove a short distance at rapid speeds.  Poke then ditched the Camry, which police found on fire, in Northwest Washington before carjacking a D.C. government Ford Explorer at gunpoint in the same block.

Acting on a tip, four Prince George's County police officers saw the parked Explorer around 3:30 p.m. in the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland. As officers attempted to apprehend Poke, he got out of the vehicle, brandished a handgun and fired at them. They returned fire. Poke was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. A woman who was in the car with Poke suffered minor injuries. Her identity has not been released.

Thursday, county police identified the officers as Cpl. Chris Smith, a 19-year veteran; Cpl. James Simms, a 10-year member; and Cpls. Adam Wyatt and David Cheatham, both with eight years of service. According to department policy, they have been placed on administrative leave pending a review of the shooting.

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