A guard at Pennsylvania’s Chester County State Prison was fired this week after officials said they failed to spot convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante escape, a source at the prison told the Philadelphia Inquirer, as the manhunt for Cavalcante enters its second week, and officials warn residents he is “extremely dangerous.”
Inside the perimeter of a search zone for escaped prisoner Danelo Cavalcante.
The officer’s name was not disclosed, though the source told the Inquirer they had been working at the prison for 20 years.
The guard had been working in the prison’s observation tower the morning of August 31, when Cavalcante—a native of Brazil who had been convicted less than a month earlier of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison—broke free, sparking a massive manhunt that prompted public schools and a popular botanical garden to close.
Authorities in Chester County, Pennsylvania—just over 20 miles west of Philadelphia—revealed new details about Cavalcante’s escape at a press conference this week, releasing a video showing him crab-walking between two brick walls before officials say he ran across a roof and scaled a razor-wire-topped fence to run free. Officials expanded their initial search area on Thursday to the west and south of the state prison where Cavalcante escaped, covering a wooded residential area that police estimate to be between eight and 10 square miles.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Police Expand Search For Escaped Convict Danelo Cavalcante To 10 Square Miles (Forbes)