I'm guessing that's pretty accurate
Posted on 12/17/2007 5:25:01 PM PST by Libloather
N.J. Escapees Take Page From 'Shawshank' Script
Prisoners Left Behind Thank You Note For Unsuspecting Guards
NEW YORK (CBS) - What's been the theme of successful movies like "Escape From Alcatraz" and "The Shawshank Redemption" has become an incredible, yet frightening reality at a New Jersey jail.
Razor-sharp wire, thick concrete, and jail guards couldn't keep 20-year-old Jose Espinoza, and 32-year-old Otis Blunt -- inmates barred up at the Union County Jail -- from escaping the prison over the weekend.
Officials say the pair concocted an elaborate scheme that involved digging through their cell walls, similar to Tim Robbins' method in Shawshank.
"They had a device and the device was to pick away the mortar at the concrete block, push the blocks between the two cells out so they could join each other into one cell," said Union County prosecutor Ted Romankow.
To keep the hole concealed, they covered it up for days with photos of bikini-clad women. Guards who were supposed to be checking on them every half-hour the night of the escape were fooled by dummies made from pillows placed under their sheets.
To get outside, they continued to dig through another wall before knocking out a block on an outside wall.
"At that point they climbed out onto the roof and made their exit," said Romankow.
That exit involved jumping from the roof over a 30-foot high metal fence covered in barbed wire.
On top of all of that, despite the presence of security cameras around the jail, the daring escape was not caught on tape.
Just to show their arrogance, the inmates left a note for the guards, thanking them for the tools they needed. "You're a real pal, happy holiday," they wrote, leaving a smiley face at the end.
Officials were frustrated to learn that the device the pair used to get through the walls was a valve that came from a pipe inmates used for chin-ups, something that was not authorized. The union representing the officers say the guards made an honest mistake.
In the meantime, investigators have been checking area hospitals for the pair, believing they may have injured themselves from the dangerous jump off the roof. Still, there was no sign of them at the closest hospital to the jail.
Police initiated a manhunt stretching from Elizabeth, which is Espinoza's hometown, to Tom's River, where Blunt hails from.
Authorities say both of their families are cooperating.
"There are people that do love these individuals," said Sheriff Ralph Froehlich. "Hard to imagine sometimes, but they do and they want them to give themselves up."
Espinosa is a confirmed member of the Bloods gang and pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with a drive-by shooting in 2005. Blunt was being held on robbery and weapons charges.
Residents were stunned to hear of the Hollywood-like escape.
"It is beyond belief because in the morning I have to send my children to school and I have sit there with fear in my heart to know what's going to happen to them," said Elizabeth resident Tyeshia Cogdell. "There's criminals on the street running loose!"
Police are warning the public to keep an eye out for the criminals.
"The one thing I would say to the public is if you run across either one of these individuals. Don't try to contact them, contact the local police department," said Romankow.
Added Froehlich: "We will find you and you're better off if you give yourself up."
Well, at least they were nice about it...
Block walls are nothing to get through. As a former block layer, I firmly believe it is possible to pierce a standard 8” or 12” wall in a very short time using any sort of metal object that would provide: 1) chisel action, and 2) sufficient leverage. Any prison that doesn’t employ poured, high-strength and reinforced concrete walls is nothing more, in truth, than a juvenile detention.
I'm guessing that's pretty accurate
I’ve just added a new keyboard to my Christmas list... this one just got ruined by coffee coming out my nose!
LOL!!
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