Gregory L. Blevins

Local man escapes from Wilkes prison

Authorities are still searching for a man who escaped Sunday morning from the Wilkes Correctional Center, a state minimum security prison on N.C. 115 in North Wilkesboro.

Gregory L. Blevins, 25, was in the prison yard when he apparently climbed over the fence around the facility around 9:30 a.m., said Bobby Harless, superintendent of the prison.

Harless said prison officials realized Blevins was missing when a head count was conducted later that morning.

Blevins was convicted of assault on a female, assault on a government officer and driving while impaired and was sentenced to two years and five months in prison in Alleghany District Court. He was admitted to the Wilkes Correctional Center in October. Harless said it was the first escape from the prison unit since April 2008.

Authorities said they have no information about his whereabouts. An Alleghany Sheriff's Office spokesman said Blevins is from Ennice and has relatives in Alleghany.

Blevins is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs 147 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. He has numerous tattoos, including a panther and a time clock on his left arm and a cross on the back of his neck.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts can call the Wilkes Correctional Center at 667-4533 or local law enforcement agencies.

 

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