Sometimes an elaborate jailbreak requires months of planning, carefully concealed tools, and knowledge of every security measure standing between an inmate and freedom. According to the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office, 30-year-old Charles Alexander Dieterich apparently just needed a pencil.
The Sheriff’s Office says Dieterich escaped from the Chesterfield County Detention Center on September 1 after manipulating the locking mechanism on his cell door. His taste of freedom didn’t last particularly long, however, as deputies found him nearby less than 30 minutes after the escape and returned him to custody.
Dieterich had originally been arrested by the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office in June on charges involving a stolen vehicle, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and failure to stop for a blue light. He pleaded guilty on August 13 and received a sentence of time served, but remained at the detention center because of an active hold related to charges in North Carolina.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Dieterich had not signed a waiver of extradition because he refused to do so. Instead of waiting around for that situation to resolve itself, investigators say he found another way out.
A Pencil Was Apparently Enough To Defeat the Cell Door
The Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office says Dieterich was housed in the detention center’s B-Work Camp, which sits in an older section of the facility constructed in 1972. Preliminary information indicates he lifted his cell door just enough to insert a pencil into its locking mechanism, allowing him to slide the door open at approximately 4:20 p.m.
Officials stressed that the door and locking mechanism function properly when used normally, but said the system can apparently be defeated when deliberately manipulated in this particular manner. For a jail security vulnerability, “inmate with pencil” is certainly not the threat model anyone wants to discover the hard way.
After getting through the cell door, Dieterich traveled through the detention center’s kitchen and exited through an unlocked door, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Officials explained that the door is routinely used by jail trustees taking out trash and kitchen employees accessing a large refrigerator located outside.
That still left Dieterich inside a secured area surrounded by fencing and barbed wire. The Sheriff’s Office says he climbed over both, sustaining cuts in the process, before making his way away from the facility.
The Escape Lasted Less Than Half an Hour
Detention staff discovered something was wrong during routine rounds when they found the B-Work Camp door ajar, and other inmates told them Dieterich had left the housing area. Dispatch was notified, and deputies were sent out at approximately 4:41 p.m., according to the Sheriff’s Office.
At approximately 4:48 p.m., deputies encountered a man near the Chesterfield County Shop on Jones Road. The Sheriff’s Office says the man assaulted a deputy while officers attempted to detain him, but deputies ultimately took him into custody and positively identified him as Dieterich.
Because of the injuries he suffered while climbing over the barbed wire, Dieterich was taken to McLeod Health Cheraw for treatment. Once medically cleared, he was transported right back to the Chesterfield County Detention Center he had escaped from earlier that afternoon.
Dieterich now faces pending charges including unlawful escape, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, and MIPP, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Whatever problems he hoped to solve by getting out of jail, his brief escape appears to have instead added a few more.
Chesterfield County Is Now Addressing the Security Flaw
The incident also left the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office with a very real security problem to address. After discovering how the B-Work Camp door had been manipulated, officials assigned a correctional officer to remain stationed at its entrance overnight while the locking mechanism was evaluated.
Sheriff Cambo Streater acknowledged that the age of the detention center is part of the conversation, noting that portions of the facility date to 1972. He said the escape exposed a security vulnerability that Dieterich was able to “manipulate and exploit,” and promised a broader review of the facility, its procedures, and existing security measures.
“Any escape from our detention center is a serious matter,” Streater said, adding that the department’s responsibility did not end simply because deputies quickly recaptured Dieterich. He also credited detention staff, dispatchers, and deputies for working together to locate the inmate within minutes of being notified.
The Sheriff’s Office says immediate precautions were put in place following the escape, with further changes expected after officials finish evaluating the vulnerable door and locking mechanism. Dieterich may not have enjoyed freedom for very long, but a pencil and an aging jail door were enough to leave Chesterfield County with considerably more work to do.