HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — Authorities are searching for a man who escaped from Bertie Correctional Institution custody while heading to UNC Gastroenterology in Hillsborough to receive medical care, the Orange Co. sheriff's office said.

Raleigh CBS affiliate WNCN reports that Ramone Alston freed himself around 7 a.m. Tuesday from leg restraints, jumped out of the transport van at the UNC Hospital and ran into the woods.

Alston is wearing a gray tee shirt, brown pants, and white New Balance shoes. He also wore handcuffs connected to a belly chain with a black box over the junction.

Officials confirmed that Alston is an Orange County resident and was before he went to prison.

UNC Health wrote a statement sharing that the Hillsborough campus went on lockdown for a short time when the prisoner

See Full Page