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Few details available as investigation into how ‘dangerous’ N.S. inmate escaped continues

Kevin Edward Clarke-McNeil. Nova Scotia RCMP

Officials are staying tight-lipped about the escape of a “dangerous” prisoner and the more than 12-hour manhunt that followed.

Kevin Clarke-McNeil escaped the Northeast Correctional Facility in Pictou County around 8:30 p.m. on Friday.

Police received numerous calls of sightings throughout the province until Guysborough RCMP received a report of a suspicious fire at 8:27 a.m. Saturday.

This was followed by further reports of an ATV on a roadway and a stolen ATV, all within Guysborough County.

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Clarke-McNeil was apprehended on the MacDonald Cove Road, east of Sheet Harbour in Halifax Regional Municipality, at approximately 9:45 a.m Saturday.

The Nova Scotia Justice Department said Clarke-McNeil is originally from Ontario and has been incarcerated at the facility since December 2019.

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He was previously incarcerated at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, and in December 2019 Clarke-McNeil was charged in relation to an assault of a 46-year-old male inmate by 15 people at the facility.

Click to play video: 'Prisoner faces several charges after escape'
Prisoner faces several charges after escape

Nova Scotia’s Department of Justice would only confirm that a criminal investigation and a Correction Services internal review are underway.

They would not provide information on how Clarke-McNeil escaped or how he evaded capture overnight.

The Nova Scotia RCMP told Global News they were continuing to investigate and didn’t have details on any charges.

Clarke-McNeil incurred minor, non-life-threatening injuries in his arrest, police said.

— With files from Aya Al-Hakim and Sean Boynton

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