Escape plan thwarted at Romulus prison

Escape plan thwarted at Romulus prison

A maximum security prison in a neighboring county remains under lockdown after an escape attempt was discovered Friday morning, according to a corrections officer union representative.
Al Mothershed, the Western Region Vice President for New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said none of the inmates were missing from the 1,500-bed Five Points Correctional Facility in Romulus, but prison staff were conducting a thorough search of the cells and common areas to determine the exact nature of the escape plot after finding a large hole in one of the prison’s fences.
Mothershed reported that prison staff found detailed escape plans and clothing and material that could have been used as a decoy dummy in one cell.
Peter Cutler, public information director for the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said he could not confirm an escape attempt, but said the facility has been on lockdown since noon Friday after illegal contraband was discovered in the cells of two inmates.
The inmates reportedly involved were Joseph Young, 36, and Delroy Walkes, 34.
According to the DOCCS website, Young was sentenced to serve eight years in 2008 for a third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance conviction. His earliest possible release date is October 2013.
Walkes was sentenced to a four-year incarceration last year, also for the criminal sale of a controlled substance. His earliest possible release date is March of 2014.
The DOCCS spokesperson said the two inmates have been relocated to a special holding area in the prison until the investigation has been concluded.
Cutler also said that damage to one of the prison’s interior fences was discovered, but it could have been done by a member of the maintenance crew.
He added that the outer wall had not been breached, and any inmate who made it past the damaged fence would still have been confined to the prison grounds.
Cutler said the prison will remain on lockdown until a thorough search of the entire facility is conducted, which could take until next week.


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