Metro

A Blair County Prison inmate is facing additional felony charges after escaping from a prison transport van following court proceedings on June 4.

Altoona resident David Daniel Ramos, 49, was arraigned Tuesday by Magisterial District Judge Paula M. Aigner on single felony counts of escape, intimidating a witness and unlawful use of a computer, as well as single misdemeanor counts of possession of contraband, theft and receiving stolen property. He was remanded to the Blair County Prison in lieu of $350,000 bail.

Hollidaysburg police officers were dispatched to the intersection of Wayne and Allegheny streets about 5:10 p.m. June 4 for a report of a male in an orange prison jumpsuit, orange crocs and handcuffs running down Wayne Street, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The caller and two other witnesses at the scene told officers the male, later identified as Ramos, appeared to be a Blair County Prison inmate. Officers then contacted Blair County 911, who confirmed that prison staff reported an inmate missing. Ramos was ultimately located on Montgomery Street with a cellphone, pack of cigarettes, matches and court paperwork on his person, the police report states.

Prison surveillance footage showed a transport van pull into a port entrance of the prison about 4:26 p.m. Two corrections officers are seen exiting the van and escorting seven inmates from the van into the prison. Officers noted that surveillance footage from Blair County Central Court showed eight inmates, including Ramos, entering the transport van about 3:56 p.m. before departing for the prison, according to the report.

About 4:42 p.m., Ramos could be seen crawling into the front of the van through a partition window and taking one of the corrections officers’ cellphone and cigarettes. He then crawled back into the rear area of the van. The corrections officers then returned to the van about 4:47 p.m., exited the port and parked the van in a parking garage before returning to the prison on foot. Video surveillance from Aigner’s office showed Ramos walking up the parking garage’s steps, court documents state.

A search of the stolen cellphone showed Ramos accessed the corrections officer’s Facebook account and sent a photo of himself to an individual he had previously been in a relationship with through Facebook Messenger. Ramos then tried to call the individual. Officers noted the individual is a victim in a pending aggravated assault and domestic violence case in which Ramos is the defendant, according to the affidavit.

Officers spoke with the victim and the victim’s father, who said there was an altercation involving Ramos at their residence on May 13 that left them both injured. Through their investigation, officers learned Ramos was at Central Court the day he escaped for a preliminary hearing in the May 13 case and that the victim testified against Ramos. The preliminary hearing was “very contentious to the point the presiding judge had to intervene,” the report states.

Ramos is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in front of Aigner on June 24.