Killers Escape! (Stories as of 3:20 a.m. 31 May 2009)

Killers Escape Dressed as Guards

From wire services:

GRADY, ARKANSAS — Two men convicted of capital murder escaped from Cummins Prison on Friday night after putting on corrections officers uniforms and walking out during a shift change.

Spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections Dina Tyler said video surveillance showed inmates Jeffrey Grinder, 32, and Calvin Adams, 39, putting on the uniforms, which are made at Cummins, in the prison library after the 6 p.m. head count, then walking out of the prison about 20 minutes later. The pair drove off in a car --a maroon or burgundy colored, 4-door sedan-- that had been left for them in the prison parking lot.

They were not missed by corrections officials until the 10 p.m. inmate headcount, Tyler said. Prison officials are trying to determine if all policies and procedures were followed.
Both men were serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Local officials say they pose a threat to anyone they encounter.

Grinder is a white male, 5-feet, 9-inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Adams is a white male, 5-feet, 7-inches tall, weighing 154 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Grinder was convicted of capital murder in 2004. Adams was convicted of the same offense in 1995. Both men have family in Arkansas and out of state.

I guess Cummins is not to be confused with a federal “Super Max” prison.

Mass Jailbreak at Peru Prison

From wire services:

LIMA (Peru) - AT LEAST 44 inmates broke out of a remote prison in Peru's northern jungle on Saturday, prison authorities reported.

The escape took place at the San Humberto de Bagua Grande prison in Utcubamba, in the Amazonas region. According to local daily El Comercio, the incident occurred at 6:10 a.m. local time (1110 GMT). When two guards opened the prisoners' inside doors, they were suddenly ambushed by about 100 inmates who threatened the officers with knives, the National Penal Institute (INPE) said in a statement.

The inmates fled through the front door, taking with them an AK-47 automatic rifle, the INPE said. Some witnesses said that some prisoners jumped into a river near the prison, while others escaped into forest to hide.

Early reports said that 25 inmates had fled and were holding prison guards hostage.
The majority of those who fled were convicted or facing trial for violent robbery, the EFE news agency said.

A senior penal system authority flew to the site while the National Police began an operation to re-capture the convicts.

A special committee meanwhile was in talks with jungle natives to stop vehicles on an area highway to help authorities apprehend the inmates, according to the president of the Amazonas region, Oscar Altamirano Quispe.

The prison is located some 900 kilometres north of Lima. The prison designed to hold 60 prisoners, has more than 200 inmates and 11 guards.

That was short and sweet. See you Monday ...if anyone escapes, that is.