Three inmates escape from Edgecombe Detention Center

After the escape, the men stole a 1989 white GMC regular cab truck with North Carolina Registration WVK 2844. The truck has damage on the left rear, officials said.

Posted 10:36 a.m. Apr 17, 2009 — Updated 12:32 p.m. Apr 17, 2009

TARBORO, N.C. — Authorities are looking for three inmates who escaped from the Edgecombe County Detention Center Thursday night.

“The inmates were able to breech an exterior door to facilitate their escape,” Edgecombe County sheriff’s officials wrote in a news release issued Friday morning.

After the escape, the men stole a 1989 white GMC regular cab truck with North Carolina Registration WVK 2844. The truck has damage on the left rear, officials said.

The escapees and their charges are:

David Lee Cox, 29, felony conspiracy, from Fayetteville
Anthony Artrip, 37, narcotics violation, from Ashland, Ky.
James Butler, 38, possession of a firearm by a felon, from Raleigh

America's Most Wanted features an Anthony "Tony" Artrip, of Ashland, Ky., on its Web site. He was one of the U.S. Marshals' Top 15 Most Wanted fugitives, according to the Web site. He spent three months robbing banks and eluding the law in Kentucky before he was captured in 2007, AMW reported.

Anyone with any information about the escaped inmates is asked to contact the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office at 252-641-7911.

The Edgecombe detention center is on Anaconda Road in Tarboro and can house up to 255 inmates. The facility was updated in 1999, according to its Web site.

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