Post: #1

From Frankfort, Kentucky:


Clarence David Moore

Quote:Ronnie Dickinson of Frankfort, Kentucky, turned himself in to authorities with an incredible story, sheriff's officials said Tuesday: His name isn't Ronnie Dickinson, he's been a fugitive for nearly 39 years and he wants to go back to prison for the health care.

Clarence David Moore, 66, called the Franklin County Sheriff's Office on Monday and said he wanted to turn himself in, the sheriff's office said. When deputies arrived, they found Moore — who'd been living in Frankfort as Ronnie Dickerson for the last six years — partially paralyzed and unable to walk because of a recent stroke. He was arrested and taken by ambulance to a hospital for examination before he was taken to the Franklin County Regional Jail.

Sheriff Pat Melton told NBC station WLEX of Lexington on Tuesday that Moore said he'd escaped from the Henderson County, North Carolina, Prison Unit in the mid-1970s and has been on the lam for almost four decades.

But as he got sicker, he couldn't get medical coverage to pay for the complications of his stroke and other health problems, because he doesn't have a valid Social Security number under his alias.

"You can't make this up," Melton said.

North Carolina prison records show that Moore, in fact, escaped at least three times from state prisons — the first time in 1971, as he was serving an eight-year sentence for larceny. He was caught within hours, but he escaped again the next year and remained loose until 1975 before he was captured.

Finally, on Aug. 6, 1976, he vanished again — this time, seemingly, for good.

What Moore's been doing for the last almost 39 years remains unclear; Melton said he has difficulty talking because of his stroke. Since 2009, however, he's been the frail, bearded man who was always pleasant to folks in Frankfort, if somewhat reserved, said Edward Jordan, a neighbor.

"I'm shocked," Jordan told WLEX. "I can't believe it.

"He's a diabetic and I'm a diabetic, and we'd sit on the porch and talk about that," Jordan said.

Moore was arraigned Tuesday morning and waived extradition to North Carolina on a charge of being a fugitive from another state. He was being held without bond pending his being returned sometime this week.

Whatever happens, he won't go back to the same prison he escaped from in 1976. It closed in 2002.

Looks like he got in trouble with the law back in the '70's for boosting televisions. He's escaped authorities 3 times with his last escape happening back when Jimmy Carter was campaigning for President.



Clarence David Moore in 1972 - check out those sideburns!

Due to his failing health -- caused by a recent stroke and diabetes -- he turned himself in to authorities so he could get the health care he needs.

From Facebook:



Ain't that a bitch! If it weren't for your country's ridiculous healthcare system, you could have wrapped up your life as a free man.

Regardless, nobody seems to know what the hell this guy has been doing since his escape in '76. Hopefully once he feels better after being attended to by doctors, he can tell what most likely is a fascinating story.

Post: #2

He should have just applied for the coverage using his social security number. Who knows if anyone would have showed up. Chances are they would have, but still...

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #3

What's really wrong is having to do an 8 year stretch for larceny, and the fact that with a good lawyer you can get out of that.

Post: #4

When I saw this on the MSN news page today, I already knew what the RVF take on it would be.

Post: #5

(04-23-2015 01:43 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  He should have just applied for the coverage using his social security number. Who knows if anyone would have showed up. Chances are they would have, but still...

True.

Under that scenario, he had nothing to lose as he was going to turn himself in otherwise anyways.

Post: #6

^My guess is that his financial problems must have been bigger than just getting insured. Turn himself in and all is taken care of. The man may be a criminal but that says something about being old in this country.

Post: #7

I don't understand why you'd stick around in the US if you were on the run or even finished serving prison time.

I'd high tail out of here as soon as possible.

Post: #8

(04-23-2015 01:57 AM)Slim Shady Wrote:  What's really wrong is having to do an 8 year stretch for larceny, and the fact that with a good lawyer you can get out of that.

Depends what the circumstances were.

Let's say he managed to steal tens of thousands of dollars that you had worked to earn, and you were never going to get that money back. Would you be satisfied if he got probation?

Post: #9

(04-23-2015 06:31 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  I don't understand why you'd stick around in the US if you were on the run or even finished serving prison time.

I'd high tail out of here as soon as possible.

That only works if you have lots of money stashed and are very intelligent and careful. And even then, US marshalls will eventually find even the most determined people if they are looking hard.

Post: #10

I have noticed in appalachia that people seem to escape from jail alot. I mean once a week there seems to be an escape on the news, and most of them are idiots who get caught again in about a week.

There was one county, that didn't have enough money to fix a broken door to the outside at the jail and the inmates just ran outside! Props to this old man for winning the game. Going back to jail as an old broken man can't be that bad. He'll likely spend most of his time in the hospital and not have to worry about a roof or his head or if he's going to eat.

Reminds me of this old guy that was already in prison for some murder and was looking like he was going to die and spent his last days confessing to a long series of unsolved murders and being carted around the midwest to be processed for them.

Post: #11

(04-23-2015 01:43 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  He should have just applied for the coverage using his social security number. Who knows if anyone would have showed up. Chances are they would have, but still...

Do they actually run the social security number through some criminal database when you go to the hospital, though? I think he could've used it and gotten away with it.

There's also a chance authorities in Kentucky didn't transfer his info over from paper to digital, or it got lost somewhere along the way.

Post: #12

^ Exactly what I was getting at.

There are all sorts of ways he may have fallen through the cracks.

Post: #13

(04-23-2015 06:56 AM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  

(04-23-2015 01:57 AM)Slim Shady Wrote:  What's really wrong is having to do an 8 year stretch for larceny, and the fact that with a good lawyer you can get out of that.

Depends what the circumstances were.

Let's say he managed to steal tens of thousands of dollars that you had worked to earn, and you were never going to get that money back. Would you be satisfied if he got probation?

I don't get much benefit from him going to jail. The Government seems to be in the punishment business when it should really be in the justice and reparations business.

Instead of wasting money on putiing this guy in prison for years they should find a way to pay me back. Ofcourse they don't want that however, because it doesn't help the "police-lawyer-court-prison" industrial complex.

It makes me think of the Governement as mob bosses making an example out of people who don't pay up. Basically it is either shell out the dough for lawyers or youre going to a hell-hole for a long time. That is a huge problem. Justice should not be served based on how much money your daddy made. I'm willing to concede that will always happen in high profile cases, but this shit happens in regular everyday cases all the time. The prosecutor pushes for these unreal sentences and charges you with almost made-up crimes that are tacked on one on top of the other that you did not even know about. The problem is that while your lawyer is defending an actual person who has feelings and conciousness, the prosecutor is just standing for "The Government". So there is never really a way that he can lose. The government does not have to go to jail, and if they have to pay you - well it's all made up money for them anyways.