By Madeline Buckley
Concord Monitor
CONCORD, N.H. — An inmate who failed to return to a halfway house in Concord has not yet been caught, according to a Department of Corrections official, but a local business owner reported that a man fitting the description of Adam Cordano, 27, came to his store and tried to buy a police uniform and badge.
Jeffrey Lyons, public information officer for the Department of Corrections, said Cordano was a minimum security inmate serving two concurrent one- to five-year sentences as a habitual offender related to driving offenses.
Lyons said Cordano was given permission to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at a local church Sunday night and never returned to the halfway house. Law enforcement has since been searching for the escaped inmate.
Later that Sunday evening, Brian Blackden, owner of Pepper Defense Supply on North State Street in Concord, reported that a man came into the store with another man who looked to be about 50 and tried to buy a police badge and uniform.
Blackden, a former police officer, said something about the customer seemed off.
“He walked in and said he is taking criminal justice classes, is graduating soon and needs a police badge. I used to be a police officer so I know that’s just not the way it works,” Blackden said. “It raised a red flag.”
Blackden said the customer also asked for a police uniform, saying that he would “need one of those soon,” but Blackden told him he does not carry uniforms. The man then selected a badge and asked Blackden to hold it for him until the following day. He left the store, ran down the street and drove away, Blackden said.
“After that, it all started to drop into place. I got the plate number and called the police,” he said. “I told them it was my suspicion he was an inmate because of the way he was acting. Something wasn’t quite right.”
The following day, Blackden realized the man who had tried to buy a badge and uniform was Cordano when he saw the story of his escape on the news.
Blackden said this incident was the second time a criminal tried to shop in his store. In 2000, a paroled rapist attempted to purchase handcuffs, a parole violation. His partner at the time recognized the man as having been convicted for a violent rape, and the man was subsequently arrested.
Cordano is described as white, 5 feet 7 inches tall, with brown hair and eyes. He has tattoos on his shoulder, arm, ankle and hand. The police do not believe Cordano is armed or particularly dangerous.
“But we always ask people to proceed with caution rather than approach an individual who is supposed to be incarcerated,” Lyons said.
Copyright 2010 Concord Monitor/Sunday Monitor