DA: Man Escaped from Montco Jail

Raehib Hankerson (Photo courtesy of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office)

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A man escaped from the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on Monday, but was recaptured within two and a half hours, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Raehib Hankerson was incarcerated at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility on Aug. 24 on a Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole violation, District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said. Hankerson was permitted outside yard time on Sept. 1. While in the secure yard, Hankerson was able to manipulate the wire fencing and escaped, Ferman said.

A perimeter was set up, and prison officials worked with detectives from the Montgomery County Detective Bureau as well as local law enforcement officers from the Lower Providence, Plymouth, Collegeville and West Norriton police departments to track Hankerson, the DA’s Office said.

Lower Providence Police Chief Francis “Bud” Carroll spotted Hankerson in a wooded area near Ridge Pike and Eagleville Road in Lower Providence, the DA’s Office said. Plymouth Township Police Officer Jonathan Monaghan and K-9 Fox, and Lower Providence Corporal Matthew Kuhnert located and apprehended Hankerson, the DA’s Office said.

Hankerson was taken into custody without incident, and was returned to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility within two and a half hours of his escape, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Hankerson was arraigned Wednesday morning via video by Magisterial District Judge Cathleen Rebar on charges of escape from a correctional facility. Bail was set at $250,000 cash; Hanerkson remains in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.