Members of the Joint Services yesterday managed to capture four of the nine prisoners who broke out of the Mazaruni Prison on Friday.
Trevor McLean called ‘Footprint’, Anil Sanichar, Royston Reid called ‘Knuckles’ and Alvin Shivnarine were returned to the Mazaruni Prison. McLean, who was shot in the shoulder during as escape bid, was treated at the hospital and sent away. He is serving a sentence for manslaughter, while Sanichar and Shivnarine were imprisoned for murder and Reid for trafficking.
Up the press time last night Dineshwar Sooklall, Kenneth Richardson, and Arsudden Khan called ‘Rocky’, Ryan Rambharose and Randolph Rodrigues were still at large.
Director of Prisons Dale Erskine told Stabroek News last evening that the men were all together and were walking in the Karau trail at Bartica. He added that “maybe it was around a bend” that they were confronted by members of the Joint Services and tried to escape. Shots were fired by the ranks and McLean was hit in his shoulder. Erskine said this caused McLean, Sanichar, Shivnarine and Reid to surrender. However, the other five men ran further into the jungle.
He said ranks were pursuing the other escapees.
McLean was treated at the Bartica hospital and returned to his cell and Erskine said the officials at the Mazaruni jail were focusing on getting the others back to their cells and would decide on the way forward shortly.
“I think they definitely would be found some time tomorrow, because something will give away and everything is currently in motion to ensure that the others could go no further,” Erskine told this newspaper last evening.
He also expressed confidence in the cordon which the law enforcers had created and added that it was now even more difficult for the others still on the run.
The prisons director was unable to confirm reports that the men were seen by residents in the area, but acknowledged that those reports were received and were being looked into by investigators. If confirmed, he said, the persons who made such reports could be called in by the authorities for questioning, since there could be a possibility that the men were aided.
Once all the men are recovered, Erskine said, they will be charged and tried in the magistrate’s court for escaping from lawful custody. This charge carries three to five years imprisonment, which could run concurrently or be added to their current sentences. But he noted that this would be at the discretion of the magistrate.
The prisoners were on the run since 4.30 on Friday afternoon, immediately after which a manhunt was launched to capture them.
The breakout occurred during a routine “feed-up” of inmates.
At a press briefing on Saturday, Erskine had told the media that the men had overpowered two guards at the brick prison, which houses 57 of the some 361 total prison population. He said the men then made their way out of the gate to the fence, where they were spotted by a guard, who raised an alarm. They threatened to chop the guard and then scaled the fence. Immediately after the alarm had been raised, a joint services response team was activated and within two hours there were between 20 and 30 ranks from the police and prison service on the ground. There were around 67 ranks on the ground up to Sunday.
Around 7.40 pm on Friday there were reports that four servicemen had been shot during a confrontation with the escaped prisoners. The four injured men – prison officers Philip Stevenson and Michael Hosannah and police constables Leonard La Rose and Richeland Blanhum – had been air-dashed to the city and admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital. However, the prisons head said investigations had revealed that all four were wounded by friendly fire. The shooting took place around the Skull Point area. He said it was very dark and the men saw silhouetted figures and one person fired, triggering an exchange. He said the men had not been in radio contact with each other, but had cellular phones. However he factored in the speed at which events unfolded. Erskine said the authorities were 100% sure that it was a case of friendly fire, since the rounds used were consistent with the weapons that were being used by members of the search party.
Up to yesterday checks by this newspaper at the Georgetown Public Hospital revealed that La Rose, Stevenson and Blanhum remained hospitalized. Hosannah had been discharged on Sunday.
Erskine discounted the possibility that the prisoners were armed, adding that they left the prison with sharpened instruments, including a chopper. Although there were daily searches for weapons at the prison, he said the prisoners were creative and a toothbrush or a piece of wood could be sharpened for use.
The authorities are still not able to say whether the escape was planned or spontaneous and are still trying to ascertain whether the men may have had outside help. Two of them, not named by the prison authorities, were scheduled to be transported to Georgetown this week for medical attention, while one was scheduled to be released in July this year.
A little over a year ago in November 2005, five prisoners escaped from the prison after ripping out wooden bars on their cell doors and cutting the chain link fence of the compound. Antony Macey, Otis Daniels, Harry Holder, Alvin Samaroo and Walter Ronald Wong managed the escape without any guns or dangerous weapons. One of the men had been serving a term for manslaughter, while the others were serving sentences for drug possession and larceny offences. Within days, all of the men were recaptured.
One of the men had made it to Riverview, Goshen, Essequibo River after stealing clothing to change his appearance and taking a boat at Karau. Another escapee was caught at the New Amsterdam ferry stelling where he about to board the late ferry. It is believed the man was dropped off at Bartica by his accomplices from where he got transportation that set him on his course for Berbice.
Friday’s escape also recalled the February 2002 Camp Street jailbreak, which saw Dale Moore, Troy Dick, Andrew Douglas, Mark Fraser and Shawn Brown break out of the prison. Their escape ushered in an unprecedented crime wave in the country which resulted in over two dozen police deaths in addition to a spate of robberies and kidnappings.
The jail-break is likely to send jitters through the security establishment just a month before a major international summit is to be held here and the cricket world cup a month after.
The police force’s urgings to family and friends of the escapees are still valid .Anyone seeing or knowing the whereabouts of the men is asked to make contact with the police on the following numbers: 225-8196, 226-6978, 226-1326, 225-3650, 225-6411, 225-6940, 225-6941, 333-2151, 229-2700, 268-2222, 444-6941, 771-4010, 771-4012, 911 or any Police Station. Persons can also contact the Guyana Prison Service on telephone numbers 225-6003, 226-8301 or 226-5855-6.
