Man On The Lam Since 1980 Caught Applying For City Job

David Price is going to serve at least 6 years in prison—30 years after his conviction on rape charges. Price, 54, went on the run in 1980 while he and another man were facing trial for putting a gun to a prostitute's head and raping her. But after three decades on the lam, authorities arrested the Price when he walked into a Manhattan courthouse to see if his criminal record was still on file, according to the Daily News.

Price—who worked as a bike messenger and a short-order cook at Hooters when he was on the run—went to the courthouse because he wanted make sure the case was closed before applying for a job with the city. That's when officials discovered a 1980 bench warrant and arrested him on the spot. Price says his detention came as a surprise because he had been arrested twice since he fled his trial, once in 1996 for drugs and once in 2005 for hitting his girlfriend. "They could have [put me away] two other times," he said. "Now I'm old and they want to mess with me?"

Although authorities twice failed to connect Price's name and fingerprints with his past conviction, he still belongs behind bars, according to former Assistant District Attorney Michael Dulberg. "It's unfortunate the system didn't pick him up sooner," said Dulberg, who prosecuted Price's case. "But he doesn't get a free pass for that."

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By Ben Muessig in News on March 15, 2010 12:45 PM

Comments [rss]

sssocialservice

Let him go..he seems like a nice respectable guy..and he really seems to love women..

Cranky Old Man

I wonder if he's going to have to register as a sex offender? Or does his conviction date of 1980 allow him to at least dodge that bullet? If not, he might as well stay in prison.

jaycjay

"Or does his conviction date of 1980 allow him to at least dodge that bullet?"

Judging just from the linked article, he wasn't convicted in 1980. He jumped bail during his trial.

ozik

Isn't raping a prostitute a minor crime, like shop lifting? (I of course don't mean this, but wanted to get it out before some ass said it all tough like)

Al_Cool_Dates

What a jerk, what the hell did he think was going to happen? The City and its Justice System may be full of dumbasses but you can't pull one over on them forever.

ed_Extinct

54 isn't old.

Jen S

Getting close?

FunChop

Does anyone know the etymology of the phrase "on the lam?"

Mr. Know-It-All

The word 'lam' is cognate with the Old English verb 'læmian' or 'lemian' meaning to lame or subdue. The expression 'on the lam' is a fairly recent (late 19th century) American slang expression related to 'beat it.' Lam, in this sense, can also be used as a verb, as in "we'd better lam out of here." How a verb meaning 'to beat' came to be used to mean 'escape' isn't clear. Perhaps it has something to do with beating the pavement.

JenChungsBaby

It's Greek, but they dropped the "B" in translation.

Jen S

On the BLAM!

r1b2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive

roadblock

That link has an absolutely worthless description of "on the lam"'s etymology. All it says is that the phrase has been used for a long time.

jaycjay

"of uncertain origin, perhaps somehow from the first element of lambaste, which was used in British student slang for "beat" since 1596."

From http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lam