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Quiet Goldsboro neighborhood shaken by teen's escape, capture

Quiet was restored Friday to a Goldsboro neighborhood that was the scene Thursday of the search for a teen fugitive.

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GOLDSBORO, N.C. — Quiet was restored Friday to a Goldsboro neighborhood that was the scene Thursday of the search for a teen fugitive. 

Wayne County juvenile justice officers were taking 16-year-old Ishmael Bunch from a detention center in Concord to Goldsboro for a court appearance when he broke free of his handcuffs and shackles, overpowered officers and ran.

"He ran down Leslie Road toward the end of the subdivision where they lost sight of him," said Lt. Shawn Harris of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.

Just before lunch, Leslie Road residents found their usually calm street flooded with police vehicles. "It's pretty quiet," said Matt Johnson, "But when we heard that, it was pretty unexpected."

Investigators said Bunch broke into a home, and, when the homeowner returned, Bunch blindfolded the man and handcuffed him using the cuffs he had slipped. He robbed the home, then fled again, in the company of two other men, Alexander Rickey Shaw Jr. and Dearron Dequan Strickland, both 18. Deputies said Shaw and Strickland helped Bunch rob the home and gave him a ride.

Police located Bunch about 12 hours later, on Rex Court in the Rollingwood subdivision in Dudley. The arrested his accomplices on Dell Drive in Dudley around 5:30 p.m.

Shaw and Strickland were taken to Wayne County Detention Center and face charges of second-degree kidnapping, common law robbery and felony breaking and entering. They were placed under a $75,000 secured bond.

Bunch, who is in the Wayne County Detention Center under a $100,000 secured bond, faces charges of second-degree kidnapping, common law robbery, felony breaking and entering, felony escape and assault on a government employee.

Authorities say Bunch has a history of violence.

"When someone escalates and goes breaking into people's homes and actually taking people hostage inside of their own homes, that is a grave concern to us," Harris said.

Johnson said he was glad the excitement had passed without his neighbor getting hurt. "The cops did their job," he said.  "They came out here, and they handled it, and we definitely appreciate them for it."

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