Suspect Hit with Machete in Orange County Home Invasion in Custody

A suspect wanted in connection with an Orange County home invasion is in custody Sunday after an odd sequence of events.

Jataveon Hall. Photo via Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities said 19-year-old Jataveon Dashawn Hall was arrested by Burlington Police on Sunday and turned over to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to face charges connected to a break-in at a Mebane home on Friday.

Hall is one of three suspects wanted in the home invasion. But he is the only one who allegedly entered the home.

An 11-year-old boy was home at the time, and Hall – who was in control of the homeowner’s pellet rifle – forced the boy into a closet. The boy escaped the closet and hit Hall in the head with a machete, according to the sheriff’s office.

Hall and the other suspects fled the scene, and Hall later arrived at the UNC Hospital facility in Hillsborough seeking treatment for his injury. He was transferred to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill “due to the severity of Hall’s wound.”

But Hall left the hospital on Friday evening, “against medical advice.”

Chief deputy of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Jamie Sykes said in a release that it was unusual for a suspect receiving medical treatment to leave the facility without law enforcement being aware.

“The arrangement all of our area law enforcement agencies have with hospital police of ensuring the eventual arrest of a suspect after the suspect receives medical care, has been in place for decades. I cannot remember another time when it has failed.”

Orange County Sheriff’s Office officials said in a release that an investigator called the hospital to check on Hall’s status on Saturday morning, and “it was apparent that hospital police were not aware Hall had left the hospital almost ten hours earlier,” until that phone call.

Sykes said that the sheriff’s office “is very concerned about the events in this case.” He added that the agency would “institute policy changes necessary to protect the public in situations like this.”

Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said he was “not in the business of assigning blame,” but he felt a statement was necessary to “defend the actions of my deputies and investigators and to place this matter in the correct context.”

UNC Health Care officials issued a statement Sunday:

“We did not intend to debate this issue with our colleagues from Orange County Sheriff’s Office. We appreciate our working relationship with them.

However, we believe this situation highlights the issue that emergency department nurses and physicians cannot be both caregivers and law enforcement at the same time. On Friday night, our emergency department was extremely busy taking care of multiple traumas simultaneously. Our nurses and physicians focus 100 percent of their time on providing care to patients – that is their job. It has always been UNC Medical Center’s intent to work closely with OCSO, and we will continue to do so in the future.”

The State Bureau of Investigation and US Marshals assisted in locating Hall.

Warrants have been taken out by investigators charging Hall with breaking and entering, second-degree kidnapping, interfering with emergency communications and assault on a child under 12. He is being held under a $100,000 secure bond.

Anyone with information regarding the incident on Friday is asked to contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Office at (919) 245-2900 or call 911.

Orange County Home Invasion Suspect in Custody

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