New York law enforcement authorities on Saturday said that two inmates convicted of murder had escaped from the state’s largest prison overnight by tunneling their way out, setting off an extensive manhunt and prompting New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to travel to the facility.
The New York State Police said in an alert posted on Facebook early on Saturday that the inmates, Richard Matt and David Sweat, had escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, an all-male maximum security prison about 275km north of Albany near the Canadian border. Within hours, the governor said on Twitter that he had canceled a scheduled visit to the Belmont Stakes horse race in Elmont, New York, to make his way to the prison to meet with the police and prison officials.
By afternoon, Cuomo was in Dannemora being briefed on the circumstances surrounding the escape, including the path the inmates were thought to have followed.
At a news conference after the briefing, officials described an elaborate escape plan that involved the men using power tools to drill through steel walls and pipes. Cuomo said the inmates had used decoys made from sweatshirts to make it look like they were asleep in their beds, deceiving corrections officers who check on them every two hours.
“When you look at how the operation was done, it was extraordinary,” Cuomo said.
The state police alert said that Matt, 48, and Sweat, 34, were discovered missing during a 5:30am bed check. Officials said both men were “a danger to the public,” and advised anyone who sees the pair not to approach them and to contact the police.
Officials did not say whether they believed the men were armed or if they had been assisted in their escape.
The discovery prompted an immediate lockdown of the prison, New York State Police Captain Robert LaFountain said, according to the Plattsburgh Press-Republican. And, in what sounded like a scene from an old movie, LaFountain said, investigators later discovered an “external breach,” extending to Bouck Street, one block from the facility.
More than 200 law enforcement agents were involved in the search, along with helicopters and canine units.
The police described Matt as 1.83m tall and weighing 95kg. He has black hair and hazel eyes, officials said. He has a tattoo on his back that says “Mexico Forever,” hearts tattooed on his chest and left shoulder and a US Marine Corps insignia tattooed on his right, according to the police.
Sweat is 1.80m tall and weighs 75kg, the police said. He has brown hair and green eyes, and tattoos on his left biceps and his right fingers, according to the police.
Sweat was serving a sentence of life without parole after being convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of a Broome County sheriff’s deputy in 2002, the police said. Prosecutors said he shot Deputy Kevin Tarsia 22 times, then stole several items from the deputy’s patrol car, including his .40 caliber Glock pistol.
Matt is serving a sentence of 25 years to life following his conviction in Niagara County on robbery, kidnapping and murder charges. The police said the victim was William Rickerson, a 76-year-old businessman from North Tonawanda who was beaten to death and dismembered.
Matt fled to Mexico, where he was sentenced to 20 years for fatally stabbing another American during an attempted robbery outside a bar. He was extradited to the US in 2007 to face trial for Rickerson’s murder.
According to the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, Matt was such a troublesome inmate that he was kept under heavy security and separate from other inmates during his 2008 trial. In case he became unruly, a state trooper who was part of the police detail watching him kept a small device capable of delivering a “disabling” shock.
Sweat had been at the prison since 2003. Matt arrived in 2008, the police said.
The prison houses about 3,000 inmates, according to the village of Dannemora’s Web site.
WARNINGS OVER COMPLACENCY: The curves of new infections in numerous countries is climbing, while others see the the first new infections in months Spikes in COVID-19 infections in Asia have dispelled any notion that the region might be over the worst, with Australia and India yesterday reporting record daily infections, Vietnam fretting over a new surge and North Korea urging vigilance. Asian nations had largely prided themselves on rapidly containing initial outbreaks after the coronavirus emerged in central China late last year, but flare-ups this month have shown the danger of complacency. “We’ve got to be careful not to slip into some idea that there’s some golden immunity that Australia has in relation to this virus,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters. Australia recorded its
EVOLVING SITUATION: Of the latest cases, 23 percent were found to be asymptomatic, but the coronavirus strain in Da Nang is more contagious, authorities said A COVID-19 outbreak that began in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang more than a week ago has spread to at least four city factories with a combined workforce of about 3,700, state media reported yesterday. Four cases were found at the plants in different industrial parks in the central city that collectively employ 77,000 people, the Lao Dong newspaper said. Vietnam, praised widely for its decisive measures to combat the novel coronavirus since it first appeared in late January, is battling new clusters of infection having gone for more than three months without detecting any domestic transmissions. Authorities yesterday reported one new
‘COVIDIOTS’: Politicians condemned the protest that came amid surging infections in the country, while a marcher said government-induced fear weakened the body Loudly chanting their opposition to masks and vaccines, thousands of people on Saturday gathered in Berlin to protest against COVID-19 restrictions before being dispersed by police. Police put turnout at about 20,000 — well below the 500,000 organizers had announced as they urged a “day of freedom” from months of virus curbs. Despite Germany’s comparatively low toll, authorities are concerned at a rise in infections over the past few weeks and politicians took to social media to criticize the rally as irresponsible. “We are the second wave,” shouted the crowd, a mixture of hard left and right and conspiracy theorists, as they converged
The Australian government yesterday said that it plans to give Google and Facebook three months to negotiate with media businesses fair pay for news content. In releasing a draft of a mandatory code of conduct, Canberra aims to succeed where other nations have failed in making tech firms pay for news siphoned from commercial media companies. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that Google and Facebook would be the first platforms targeted by the proposed legislation, but others could follow. “It’s about a fair go for Australian news media businesses, it’s about ensuring that we have increased competition, increased consumer protection and a sustainable
RSS