Yesterday afternoon, an inmate from the Gaston Correctional Center escaped and stole a pick-up truck while he was on a work detail.
46-year-old David Alan Woods was serving life in prison for murdering a Harnett County woman in 1993.
While he was on a work detail in Lowell, NC, he stole a Ford pick-up truck at about 1 p.m. yesterday afternoon. At roughly 2:15 p.m., he crashed the truck while speeding down I-85 near exit 14, just north of Bessemer City. The truck rolled several times and Woods was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
Breaking Gaston Co- on the scene of a deadly crash along interstate 85. Police say it involves a NCDOC inmate who stole a work van out of Lowell. pic.twitter.com/cHug4W07My
— Dave Faherty (@FahertyWSOC9) February 26, 2018
According to Gastonia Police, officers were not pursuing Woods at the time of the crash.
The Gaston County Department of Correction have not disclosed what type of work Woods was performing or how he was able to escape.