The brazen escapes of three suspected killers in recent days in separate incidents are putting scrutiny on law enforcement’s ability to keep prisoners locked up, experts say.
While two of the escapees, both subjects of massive manhunts, were captured, the third, Michael Burham, who authorities described as a “self-taught survivor” and former Army reserve sergeant, remained on the run Wednesday as a reward for information leading to his capture grew to $19,500. He is suspected of being armed and dangerous, authorities say, hiding in the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania six days after he was released from the Warren County Jail in Pennsylvania.
“Based on everything I’ve seen, I think he’s getting help,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said of Burham at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
And on Monday night, Indiana Sheriff’s Deputy John Drum, 61, was allegedly killed by an inmate who was trying to escape, officials said. Orlando Mitchell, the 34-year-old inmate, allegedly assaulted Drum as the deputy was driving him from a hospital to the Indianapolis Adult Detention Center. The inmate, who faces charges of killing his girlfriend in 2022, allegedly stole a sheriff’s department transport wagon and crashed it in an attempt to escape, officials said. He was quickly arrested.
The Jamestown Police Department released this booking photo of Michael Burham.
Jamestown Police Department
“It’s an opportunity and they’re taking advantage of it,” said Robert Boyce, a former chief of detectives for the New York Police Department, about what drives many inmates to try to escape custody.
Boyce, an ABC News contributor, also said that many escapes occur during the summer, a possible explanation for the recent spate of inmate collapses.
The most likely to escape
Bryce Peterson, an assistant professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told ABC News that many of the escapees also appear motivated to run, saying that inmates serving long sentences or facing serious charges like murder “they are the most likely to escape.” “
“It just comes down to when they have the opportunity to do it,” Peterson told ABC News.
Peterson, also a research scientist at the nonprofit Center for Justice Research and Innovation at the Naval Analysis Center, co-authored a 2016 report that analyzed 611 inmates involved in 503 escape incidents at 398 facilities ·locking facilities other than the US.
“Our results indicate that prison escapes are a common but overlooked phenomenon. The results also challenge the misperception that escapes are usually sensational and violent events,” Peterson’s report, “Escape from Correctional Custody : A New Examination of an Old Phenomenon,” “, he concluded.
Peterson noted that most escapes are “very mundane and routine,” unlike the Hollywood version of prisoners who spend months in secret outside of prison as in the 1994 film “The Shawshank Redemption.”
“In fact, the vast majority of leaks are simply what we call ‘walk-ins,’ where someone who is in a minimum security facility where there are no walls, no fences, or a very, very minimal type of security external perimeter, simply walk. out of the facility,” Peterson said.
In the most elaborate recent escapes, authorities said Burham is suspected of breaking out of prison by climbing onto exercise equipment at a playground and through a metal grate roof. Burham then used tied sheets to lower himself to the ground, where he fled on foot, officials said.
“When there’s more motivation and more planning, it’s usually pretty straightforward,” Peterson said. “There have been actual cases of people tunneling through walls and that sort of thing. It’s not very common.”
The Warren County Board of Commissioners announced Wednesday morning that, in conjunction with the state Board of Prisons, it has reviewed data associated with Burham’s escape and ordered immediate security changes at the Warren County Jail to try to prevent new leaks The modifications, according to commissioners, include fortifying the roof of the 40-foot-by-40-foot caged playground on the top floor of the facility “with deterrent and safety measures” and replacing equipment exercise to eliminate access to higher positions in the facility.
“Commissioners expect immediate structural fixes to be completed before the end of the week,” the board said in a statement. “Several long-term upgrades will begin immediately and will be completed in the coming weeks.”
Inmate escapes during transport
Peterson said his research also shows that most escapes occur in county jails rather than federal and state prisons.
“Prisons are often older facilities, or even if they’re not older, sometimes they’re not as well maintained,” Peterson said. “Most prisons are very small; they have small budgets. They’re run by counties; they have more understaffing and bigger staffing problems. While state prisons are also understaffed, county jails are struggling with the staff, especially right now.”
Besides the study he wrote with his John Jay colleague Jeff Mellow, a professor of criminal justice, Peterson said very little research or national data on escapes exists.
“One of the consistent findings that we had from the work that we did … specifically found that escapes that occurred during transportation are more likely to lead to violence,” Peterson said.
Chadwick Shane Mobley, the suspect in the murder of a Michigan woman, escaped on July 9, 2023 in Montana while being transferred to Michigan to face murder charges.
Plains, Montana Police Department.
Inmate Chadwick Shane Mobley, 42, is believed to have fled from authorities in Montana on Sunday. He was brought to Michigan to face charges in the 2011 slaying of a 20-year-old woman, authorities said.
Employees of a private transportation company hired by the U.S. Marshals Service were driving Mobley from the Lincoln County Jail in Libby, Montana, to Michigan on Sunday when he managed to remove his handcuffs and ankle shackles, they said the authorities He was released from custody around 10 a.m. local time at a gas station in Plains, Montana, according to the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office. Mobley was located Monday evening in Plains and captured, authorities said.
An research by The Marshal Projecta nonprofit news organization that covers the U.S. criminal justice system, found that at least 60 inmates escaped from private extradition vehicles between 2000 and 2018, including one who later stabbed an officer of police after running away.
“There’s very little oversight,” Peterson said of the private prisoner transport companies. “It’s not always clear what their training policies are, what credentials the staff have to transport people. I think that’s certainly an area that we should be looking at if we’re trying to curb escapes and, more importantly, reduce the amount of violence that occurs during leaks.”
He said several inmates have also escaped while under guard at the medical facility over the years.
On Sunday, California inmate Eric Abril, suspected of a hostage-taking homicide and shootout with police, escaped from a medical facility in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville, where he was supposed to be under 24-hour surveillance , Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said. in a press conference. The 35-year-old fugitive was captured Monday after being spotted in a residential area of Rocklin, California, about 6 miles from where he escaped, authorities said.
On July 9, 2023, a manhunt was launched for 35-year-old Eric Abril, a suspected killer, who authorities said had escaped from Sutter Roseville Medical Center near Roseville, California.
Placer County Sheriff’s Office
“When you’re in a hospital, unless you can escape through a window or something, you’re under guard 24/7. That’s a situation that often leads to violence, or at least compared to the people who break out. from indoor facilities,” Peterson said.
Although no injuries were reported in Abril’s escape, an officer briefly pursued Abril on foot but lost him.
Most leaks are short lived
Peterson said his research also shows that it is “very rare” for fugitives to remain at large for more than a few days before being captured.
“From what we can tell from other research that’s been done, even though it’s very outdated, at least 90% of people tend to be recovered. And of the people who aren’t recovered, who spend more time outside or that stay out. , whether it’s permanently or for a long time, it’s usually because there aren’t people looking for them, to be honest,” Peterson said.
Peterson added, “For people who are facing very serious charges or people who are convicted of very serious charges, they will almost certainly be caught at some point. It’s usually within a few days, sometimes up to a week or two. cases where people stay out of custody for much longer than that, but it’s rare.”
