3 arrested for allegedly helping Dorchester County inmate escape

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) — Dorchester County deputies arrested a third man they had been searching for after he allegedly helped a woman who was on the run following her escape last month.

Adrian Lesston, 34, of North Charleston was arrested Monday night on a charge of harboring or employing an escaped convict.

At a news conference Monday, Dorchester County Sheriff Sam Richardson announced that his agency was trying to find Lesston in connection to the escape of Lauren Ashley Thrower.

Thrower escaped from custody after she was transported to Trident Hospital for medical observation on March 15. She was being held at the Dorchester County Detention Center.

Thrower reportedly took off from the hospital and got into a car outside a restaurant on University Boulevard.

She is now facing new charges in connection to the escape and is being held on a $175,000 bond.

Deputies say she was in custody after she was arrested for identity fraud and had pending charges from the Goose Creek Police Department and the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

Two other people were also arrested in connection to her escape.

Deputies arrested and charged Brett Anthony Thrower, 37, and Stephan Montrell Aiken, 41, with knowingly assisting Lauren Thrower and hindering law enforcement. Both are charged with interfering with and hindering officers in the service of a warrant.

Sheriff’s spokesman Steven Wright said the Office of Professional Standards reviewed the incident and identified multiple failures, including improper restraint procedures and a delay in notifying the Dorchester County Consolidated Dispatch Center, which violated policy.

Richardson said he fired the deputy who was responsible for Thrower the day she escaped.