Inmate met with attorney, then tried escaping into room’s ceiling, NC guards say

An inmate’s seemingly clever plan to escape jail via the visitation room ceiling – after meeting with his attorney – proved to be botched from get-go, according to investigators in North Carolina.

Not only did deputies catch the man in the act, but it turns out he was trying to access a crawlspace with no exit, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office said in a March 23 news release.

The incident happened Friday, March 20, at the High Point Detention Center in High Point, and was poorly timed to coincide with the guards making their morning rounds, officials said.

“During the round, the officer located (the inmate) inside the attorney visitation room standing on a metal stool. A large section of sheetrock had been pulled from the ceiling and was found on the floor,” the sheriff’s office said. “(The inmate) was in the attorney visitation room following a meeting with his attorney.”

Deputies questioned the 34-year-old man about his intention, and he “admitted he was attempting to escape,” the sheriff’s office said.

However, the crawlspace in the ceiling does “not provide a means of exit from the facility,” officials noted.

A search revealed the man had “several metal pieces that had been fashioned into weapons,” officials said.

The suspect, who lives in Sanford, has been in jail since Feb. 27, on a charge of felony larceny of a vehicle, court documents report.

His charges now include felony possession of a weapon by a prisoner, misdemeanor flight escape and misdemeanor Injury to real property, the sheriff’s office said. He has also been reclassified as an escape risk “requiring closer supervision,” officials said.

High Point is about a 75-mile drive northeast from uptown Charlotte.

This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 7:03 AM.