Prisoner escape may be due to officers' errors at UNC Hospitals

Correction department officers might have been responsible for the Tuesday escape of a prisoner receiving treatment at UNC Hospitals, said Bob Lewis, director of the N.C. Division of Prisons.

Lewis said Friday that the inmate, 46-year-old Farley Linford Bernard, was not handcuffed or restrained in any way when he was captured Tuesday, indicating that the officers failed to follow proper procedure.

“It’s fairly common knowledge that he probably didn’t do it himself,” Lewis said. “And it probably had to be done by one of our staff.”

Lewis said the restraints were likely removed before Bernard stepped behind a curtain to change into a hospital gown. He could not comment on the details of correction department protocol.

“Any time you’re dealing with security procedures like that, there is a certain amount of security and protocol that we must take,” Lewis said. “The escape could have very likely been the result of our staff not following our policy and procedures.”

Bernard, an inmate at the high-security Pasquotank Correctional Institution in Elizabeth City, escaped from the custody of two armed corrections officers and stole a UNC Department of Public Safety police car.

He was arrested about 40 minutes later, after a high-speed chase.

Bernard was being treated at UNC Hospitals as an outpatient when the incident occurred. He is one of hundreds of inmates from more than 50 correctional facilities across the state who receive treatment at UNC Hospitals each year, Smith said.

After being hit by a Taser but still managing to steal a campus police car, Bernard headed west on Interstate 40, where he eventually wrecked the vehicle near Mebane, about 20 miles away.

No one was injured in the chase.

Tom Smith, director of the police department at UNC Hospitals, said that any outside law enforcement officers who guard the inmates are given instructions on various codes and procedures and that his department analyzes each inmate who receives treatment.

“We do monitor the inpatients, and we do a risk assessment of each patient,” he said.

Smith added that his department is looking at several possible internal changes since the escape.

“We’re looking at a variety of things that we may do as a result of this incident,” he said. “The department of corrections is apparently reviewing their policy, too.”

But Smith said the escape was only a mistake and does not necessarily indicate the need for systemic changes.

“It just boiled down to the protocol was missed and restraints were taken off,” he said. “It boils down to human error.”

Keith Acree, public affairs director for the N.C Department of Correction, said all possibilities are still being investigated.

Bernard was serving a 25-year term for various charges related to a May 2006 carjacking in Raleigh. In January 2007, he was convicted of first-degree kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, possessing stolen goods and speeding to elude arrest.

Prior to his escape, Bernard’s projected release date was May 26, 2026.

Acree said Tuesday that Bernard’s actions would add time to that sentence.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.