Weekend escape foiled by academy employee
A weekend escape plot at Summit Academy reform school in Summit Township ended with arrests in Pittsburgh of a man and three teens, two of them students of the school.
Being held in Butler County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bond each are Keith A. Nolder, 54, of Glassport, Allegheny County; and Damire M. McClain, 18, of Pittsburgh.
A third suspect, Maurice C. Boatwright, 19, of Pittsburgh, is free on $25,000 bond, and a fourth suspect, a 15-year-old Pittsburgh boy, is back at Summit Academy, according to state police.
Troopers were notified around 3:30 p.m. Saturday of the escape of two students — McClain and the 15-year-old, police said. Those teens were reportedly seen leaving in a car waiting for them in front of the facility on Herman Road.The car, a Mazda 3, sped away south on Bonniebrook Road. A Summit Academy employee got into his personal vehicle and started following the car, police said, to Route 28 and into Allegheny County.The employee told police the car hit speeds of about 100 mph. The car eventually got stopped in traffic on the Highland Park Bridge in Pittsburgh, which allowed police to arrest the occupants.
“Nolder related prior to arriving at Summit Academy,” according to charging documents, “(that) Boatwright was in constant communication with (the 15-year-old) and McClain formulating a plan to pick them up.”Nolder and Boatwright were each arraigned on a felony charge of conspiracy to assist an escape and a misdemeanor charge of corruption of minors. McClain was arraigned on a felony charge of escape.The 15-year-old was not immediately charged, Butler County juvenile probation authorities said.
