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WEST GOSHEN — Even as the current administrator of the Chester County Prison identified the way Danelo Cavalcante was able to flee the facility last week by mimicking an earlier escape, the two Republican candidates for Chester County commissioner on Wednesday leveled criticism at the county’s leadership for the recent incident, which one referred to as “a national embarrassment.”
At a news conference at the Chester County Government Services Center, Acting Warden Howard Holland confirmed that Cavalcante, who was convicted of murder and sentenced last month, modeled his escape route on an earlier incident that a previous inmate had utilized — “crab walking” up a walled passageway in an outdoor exercise yard and pushing his way through razor wire at the top.
Cavalcante was then able to flee across rooftops at the prison and run to freedom, unseen by a corrections officer in an observation tower whose job it was to keep a watch on the outdoor exercise yards where Cavalcante was one of a number of inmates engaged in a basketball game.
Holland, who took over as acting warden the day before the escape, said that the tower officer had been placed on administrative leave. He also said that additional security measures were anticipated for the prison, including enclosing the outdoor yards with fencing so that inmates are caged in.
He acknowledged that earlier security improvements installed following the previous escape — which lasted only a brief time before the inmate was captured and returned — had ultimately proven ineffective in stopping Cavalcante’s brazen flight. The upgraded security included only additional razor wire on the roof.
“Following the (earlier escape) it was determined by our security advisors that this one level of security was sufficient,” Holland told the assembled media members. “In fact, what was perhaps overlooked was the fact that addressing the single point of countermeasures should have been bolstered by additional means. We are addressing that.”
The state Attorney General’s Office has taken over the investigation into Cavalcante’s escape, a probe that had been underway involving the Chester County Detectives. Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan confirmed that her office had turned the matter over to that office.
Latest sighting
Meanwhile, state police Lt. Colonel George Bivens gave the latest update on the efforts to track and capture Cavalcante, saying that a sighting of the escapee by a resident of Pennsbury near Chandler Road had been confirmed. The resident was able to contact authorities as the person identified as Cavalcante slipped into a wooded area and away from apprehension.
The area of the sighting, Bivens said, meant that Cavalcante had moved east of where he had last been spotted — near the boundary of Longwood Gardens north of Route 1. He appeared to be closer to the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek, which serves as a natural barrier along Creek Road about 5 miles from the gardens and north of Chadds Ford.
Bivens told the media that he believes that Cavalcante — who he said had some experience in the woods from when he lived in his native Brazil — was heading south. But he declined to say what he thought the murderer’s ultimate destination is.
He also said that although Cavalcante had picked up some resources in his foraging through the wooded areas around the Parkersville village in Pocopson and Pennsbury, he did not believe he was getting active assistance from anyone.
Asked if Cavalcante was “lost” in the woods he is unfamiliar with, Bivens answered: “I guess we will know that after we find him.”
Criticism
Before either of those men gave their reports however, the two GOP candidates hoping to win back control of the county commissioners from Democratic handed out statements that called into question the prison operations.
“The primary role for any government is the safety and wellbeing of its residents,” said David Sommers, a West Goshen educator running for the office against the two Democratic commissioners who lead the three member board. “Chester County commissioners must keep our communities safe.
“The escape of an ‘extremely dangerous’ inmate from the Chester County Prison is of great concern. There are many questions that remain unanswered to date. Residents deserve a full explanation of the events surrounding the escape, response time, and subsequent notification to the public,” he said in a statement.
Candidate Eric Roe later issued a harsher critique of the situation, calling it “a national embarrassment.
“It is completely unacceptable that this evil man escaped from the corrections facility of the wealthiest county in Pennsylvania,” Roe who served as an aide to current Republican Commissioner Michelle Kichline and formerly as the state representative whose district abutted the prison.
“This situation calls for a top-to-bottom review of the Chester County Prison’s protocols, infrastructure, technology, and staffing – both human and canine,” he said.
In a statement issued following the press conference, commissioners Chairwoman Marian Moskowitz said, “We are receiving regular updates from the acting warden and those who are undertaking a full internal investigation at the prison and will support all measures that are identified as needed to ensure this will not happen again.
“We have full confidence in Acting Warden Holland, and his efforts to make necessary changes quickly,” said she, but did not address Sommers’ or Roe’s criticisms.
Vice Chairman Josh Maxwell, who as the chairman of the county prison board attended the news conference, declined to specifically address his opponents.
“We have to focus on what the state police need to to do and help find this individual,” he said by phone.
Kichline, who is not seeking re-election, could not be reached.
Background
Cavalcante, 34, a Montgomery County man who was convicted of first degree murder of his former girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in April 2021, escaped from the county prison on the morning of Aug. 31. He had been awaiting transfer to state prison to begin serving his life without parole sentence, but had been conferring with his attorneys on an appeal of his conviction and sentence.
Since then, a massive manhunt has been conducted in the general area south of the prison, located in Pocopson. Despite the efforts of hundreds of law enforcement personnel — using infrared lighting, K-9 tracking dogs, nighttime imagery, fly overs by police helicopters and search places, as well as boots-on-the-ground officers — and numerous confirmed sightings, Cavalcante has as of Wednesday continued to elude capture.
Cavalcante’s was the second escape from the 1,100 inmate facility located between West Chester and Kennett Square in three months. The first escapee, a West Chester man, Igor Bolte, was captured within 10 minutes of his flight from the prison exercise yard in May, found hiding in a neighbor’s swimming pool.
Both Sommers and Roe, in their separate statements did not mention the current commissioners by name. All three, including Kichline, serve on the Prison Board and are nominally in charge of its operations. Neither did they criticize the way law enforcement has handled the manhunt.
“At this current time, the priority must be the apprehension by law enforcement of the convicted criminal,” said Sommers. “I am thankful for the countless hours our local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies have worked towards this goal.
“To be clear, I’m not blaming the brave men and women of law enforcement,” echoed Roe. “They are out in the 93-degree heat today trying to catch him, and I am grateful for the tremendous work they do. My frustration is with the leadership of this county that allowed not just one, but two inmates to escape within a matter of months of each other.
Sommers demanded that as soon as the manhunt is concluded there be “a full-scale review of all prison policies and procedures by an independent third party.
“This is the second escape from the prison this year,” he said, as was earlier reported by the MediaNews Group. “The public deserves answers to the questions of how these escapes happened and if steps were taken to correct any deficiency in prison policies and procedures.
“Additionally, I believe the county must conduct a thorough search for a new, qualified, vetted, permanent Chester County Prison Warden,” he said.
The former warden, Ronald M. Phillips, resigned on Aug. 30, a personnel move that was shrouded in mystery as officials declined to discuss what led to the longtime prison official’s departure. He was placed on administrative leave in July for unidentified reasons.
The prison board — made up of the three county commissioners, President Judge John Hall, District Attorney Deb Ryan, Sheriff Fredda Maddox, and Controller Margaret Reif — unanimously appointed Holland, the former Downingtown police chief when the announcement of Phillips’ resignation was made.
Holland’s appointment came less than 24 hours before the prison facility in Pocopson would be plunged into the crisis as Cavalcante, an “extremely dangerous” inmate, escaped from the facility. He had served as a special liaison to the prison board since April.
Cavalcante escape timeline
In his timeline of what happened on the morning of Aug. 31, Holland said that Cavalcante had been one of a number of inmates who were allowed into the exercise yards. Even though he had been found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison, Holland said that his movements were not anymore restricted than other inmates on his cell block that day.
They entered “Yard C” at 8:33 a.m. and began playing basketball. At 8:51 a.m., Cavalcante left the group, went to the brick wall passageway, placed his hands on one wall and his feet on the other, and shimmied up the wall. He pushed his way through the razor wire there and fled.
At 9:35 a.m., the inmates from the block were returned to the cells. At 9:45 a.m., a count turned up a missing inmate. At 9:50 a.m., the block was placed on lockdown. But it was not until 10 a.m. that the escape siren was sounded and the search began.
Holland declined to comment on many other aspects of his internal investigation, saying that would fall to the Attorney General’s Office.
Previous escape
According to an arrest affidavit filed by Chester County Detective Keith Cowdright, the prior escape occurred around 6:20 a.m. May 19 and was spotted by a single corrections officer who was overseeing the exercise yards there. By 6:25 a.m., the inmate — identified as Igor Vidra Bolte — had been taken back into custody by prison staff.
In an interview, a corrections officer told Cowdright there were six inmates in one yard and two in the other. At some point, the inmates in the one yard started arguing, drawing the officer’s attention away from the other two inmates. When be looked back, he saw an orange jump suit along a wall about the yard, and then spotted Bolte running across the prison roof towards a field near the main entrance on Wawaset Road.
When Bolte — who had earlier escaped the prison in 2019 when he was incarcerated for punching a West Chester police officer — spoke with Cowdright, he did not deny the escape.
He said that as an experienced rock climber, he was able to climb the walls of the exercise yard with his feet on one wall and his hands on the other, horizontal to the ground. Once at the top, he pulled himself onto the roof and ran across the top until he scaled down a wall near the visitor’s entrance, where there is less security.
Bivens said that the intensive search for Cavalcante had left one of the trackers — a K-9 Officer from the state police — dehydrated and sick. The dog had been treated and was recovering, he said.
The trooper also said that the reward for information that leads to Cavalcante’s capture had been increased to $20,000 with the addition of $10,000 from Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
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