Kiwi Escapes The Chair
From New Zealand wire services…
A handcuffed, low-security prisoner was being escorted by guards from a prison van to the Turangi dental surgery when the inmate made a run for it, according to acting Tongariro/Rangipo Prison Manager Zak Peacock. The escape bid was short-lived: The inmate was caught just 16 minutes into his flight this morning (29 May 2009).
"Our staff immediately pursued the prisoner. This was noticed by a member of the public who helpfully contacted police," Peacock added. Other prison staff were placed around the town and using radios were able to close in on him.
Peacock said the aspiring escapee [name not given] now faces criminal charges and a likely increase of his security classification. All for the sake of a 16-minute run in a pair of handcuffs. …I don't know where this prisoner thought he would go while handcuffed, not many people like going to the dentist, but this was ridiculous."
Well, gee Mr. Peacock, if the guy was used to making good decisions he wouldn’t be an inmate now, would he?
They’re Breaking Up That Old (Youth) Gang of Mine
From The Frederick News-Post, Maryland...rewritten…
May 29--SABILLASVILLE – On Wednesday night 14 youths escaped from the Victor Cullen Center after overpowering staff members there. They are back in custody and have been transferred to other detention centers across the state, according to the Department of Juvenile Services.
Around 7 p.m. Wednesday, one of the youths began to act out, said Tammy Brown, DJS spokeswoman. Staff members followed protocol by trying to calm him down. They tried to restrain him, but he broke free and that caused a commotion. Several youths broke into a locked building (where woodworking classes are held) by pushing an air conditioning unit out and breaking a window, she said. Then they broke into a locked cabinet that housed the woodworking tools and used them to cut the fence.
Six staff members and one resident who were injured during the escape have been released from two hospitals, she said. The injuries were minor and included a fractured finger and cuts and bruises.
Four of the youths were found Wednesday night walking along nearby railroad tracks, and they have been charged with escape, said Brown.
One of the young men at the center that night was 18-year-old Julian B. Jackson. He was found at 7:46 p.m, according to charging documents. Jackson was hiding with nine other youths in a maintenance building outside the secured area of a state-run detention center. Jackson is now being held without bail at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center. Prosecutors have charged him with second-degree escape, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, a $5,000 fine or both.
Capt. David Ward, director of security at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center, said his staff transported Jackson and eight juveniles from Victor Cullen. They also took five youths to a regional detention center in Baltimore and three others to the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center.
On Wednesday night calls and e-mails were sent to homeowners who are on a list when an escape and capture occurs, as dozens of Maryland State Police troopers and Frederick County Sheriff's Office deputies searched the area, Brown said.
The DJS Inspector General's Office is investigating the escape, Brown reported. Officials were interviewing staff members and youths Thursday and inspecting the perimeter of the center. The DJS is reevaluating where to keep the tools when the youths are not using them, Brown added.
But wait! Leaving the tools inside the prison eliminates all those inconvenient visits by relatives who have to bake files and hacksaws into cakes…
From the Ashville (North Carolina) Citizen-Times…
BRYSON CITY — A former Swain County jailer, Anita Kaye Vestal, is facing four felony and two misdemeanor charges after police say she helped a suspected murderer escape and fled with him to California. She is set to appear in court Aug. 13.
Jeffery Czechonna Miles, 27, escaped from the Bryson City jail on March 21. Vestal is charged with aiding and abetting his escape. Police allege Vestal gave Miles keys to an exterior door and turned off the alarm in the control room when he unlocked the door. Miles then hid in Vestal's minivan as she drove him to her apartment. They changed clothes in the van and left in her father's pickup.
The two were arrested April 19 in Vallejo, Calif., after a month on the run. Investigators began conducting surveillance at a motel on the outskirts of town after locating the suspects' vehicle in the parking lot, police said.
Miles is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Aug. 5 2008 slayings of Swain County residents James David Scott Wiggins and Michael Heath Compton. Five other people are charged in the case.
Vestal has been charged with felony conspiracy, misdemeanor aiding and abetting an escape from a local jail, felony harboring an escapee, felony provision of drugs to an inmate, misdemeanor obstructing justice and felony conveying messages with convicts or prisoners.
Vestal is being held in the Macon County Detention Center under a $25,000 bond. Miles is being held at Central Prison in Raleigh. He will also be charged with misdemeanor escape from a local jail.
12 ½ Years For Drinking a Beer (and One Other Offense)
From North Carolina news outlets:
The inmate who authorities say escaped from Polk County, North Carolina courthouse has been sentenced to another 12 ½ years in prison, according to the Hendersonville Times-News. Authorities say they caught Steven David Taylor nine days after his escape on March 20 when he stopped at a friend’s house for a beer.
The paper reported Taylor was convicted of being a habitual felon. This time, he was wearing shackles around his wrists and ankles in court. Taylor is due back in court to face the escape charge on June 3rd.
Barb Wire Cuts Escape Attempt Short
From the Franklin County Times, Alabama:
An inmate injured himself while trying to escape from the exercise yard at the Franklin County Detention Center earlier this week.
Jail administrator Capt. James Woodall said Joseph Thomas Postell, 20, sustained injuries from the barbwire fence when he climbed over one of the two fences surrounding the facility.
"The attempted escape happened during his exercise time," Woodall said. "He climbed over one of the fences, but did not attempt to climb the second fence because of his injuries.
Postell, who had been in the jail since late April on burglary and assault charges, was treated at the jail and later sent to Russellville Hospital for treatment of his injuries. Woodall reported, “He received a large cut on his leg, which had to be glued back together instead of stitches, and he has a compressed fracture in his foot."
Postell now faces additional charges of second-degree escape, which is a Class C felony, which carries a sentence of one to 10 years in prison upon conviction.
Triple Murderer Makes Well-Dressed Return to Jail
From the Saturday Star, South Africa:
Farouk Meyer, 33, the convicted triple murderer who made a brazen escape from prison on Monday, is back behind bars. Meyer honoured his word and handed himself over at the Sandton police station on Wednesday.
Dressed in a beige suit, blue shirt and tie, Meyer stepped out of a taxi carrying a black briefcase. He was met by a contingent of media members, police officers, relatives, Sandton police station commissioner Director Alan Billings, Department of Police spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng Justice Department spokesperson Collin Msibi as well as the handover facilitator, 702 Crime Line head Yusuf Abramjee.
Before handing over the allegedly compelling evidence he claims would prove his innocence, Meyer said he was not scared of going back to prison, but that he wanted to ensure justice was served and all criminals involved in his case were held accountable. "All I'm asking for is justice... Every person who committed a crime must be held accountable for their crime," he said.
By "every person" he was referring, among others, to the investigating officer who he claimed planted two extra bullets that got him convicted for three murders.
Meyer was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000 after he was convicted of murdering Desmond Bethanie, Gerald Jacobs and Dawood Malgas inside Club 12 Play in Hillfox, west of Joburg, in November 1999. While he admitted he had fired the shot that fatally wounded Bethanie and Jacobs, he maintained it was in self-defence. He said he was wrongfully convicted for the murder of his friend Malgas.
In a desperate attempt to highlight his "injustice", Meyer escaped from Groenpunt Prison in Vereeniging on Monday while working outside the prison. He said he simply "ran over the veld and got into a taxi and escaped like that".
He claimed there was corruption within the police and prosecuting authority, which he said had secured his conviction. He had sent a petition to the Justice Department in 2005 but never heard from them.
Msibi confirmed that evidence had been handed over to the Justice Department and that they would "look into it". He added that Meyer's petition had been withdrawn sometime in 2007, but could not say why.
Correctional Services spokesman Manelisi Wolela said Meyer would be "downgraded" and sent to a maximum security prison where privileges he once used to enjoy, like working, would be withdrawn.
"Evidence" Meyer handed over included a statement from one of the deceased's daughters saying her father was friends with the investigating officer, and statements from other witnesses saying the investigating officer had "influenced" them.
Interesting evidence. I think Meyer will be spending a lot more time in stir waiting for his new trial.
So that's it. So far, three days in a row with multiple jailbreaks. When a sitcom character says there are prison breaks every day, BELIEVE HER. After all, she's on TV and you're not... See you next time there is news.
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