After escaping from police custody three times and living on the lam for nearly 40 years, Clarence David Moore, 66, turned himself in to police.
With three successful prison breaks and a secret life under the alias of Ronnie T. Dickinson, why would Moore want to turn himself over to the authorities after all these years?
“I think he was tired of running. He’s at a point in his life and medically that he’s got to have help,” said Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton.
When police arrived at his home last month in Frankfort, Kentucky, Moore was in a hospital bed.
Among other health issues, he suffered a stroke last year that left his right side paralyzed, and because he didn’t have a legitimate Social Security Number, wasn’t able to get the medical help he needed.
As police entered the home, Moore began crying when he saw the deputies, “He said, ‘I just want to get this behind me. I want to be done,'” Melton recalled.
Moore was first convicted in 1967 in North Carolina of larceny. He was sentenced to up to seven years in prison, but escaped while working with a road crew in the area. He was captured again in 1971, but fled the following year and was on the run until he was found in Texas in 1975. His final escape was from Henderson County prison on August 6, 1976.
A woman who lives with Moore answered the door when police arrived, but like Moore, has declined to comment.
Neighbors, Jim Clark and Richard Colyer, both knew him as well, but as his alias, Ronnie Dickinson. Both said they had no idea of Moore’s past.
“He was a nice neighbor. He was a very compassionate person. He didn’t have any hatred in his heart toward anyone,” Clark said, and Colyer described Moore as a private person who moved to the neighborhood a few years ago.
Moore was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, then to jail where he’s in custody.
