Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – At least twenty-one prisoners in Pennsylvania have escaped county prisons, jails, and detention centers so far in 2023 according to publicly available information. Additional unpublicized escapes are suspected as well.
The following cases involve escapes from secure facilities that house violent prisoners. This list does not include trustee inmates who often walk away from outside work details, or do not return to work release programs. In some cases, additional suspects have been charged for aiding and abetting the prisoners in their escapes.
One escape in Philadelphia involved a suspect accused of four murders, who along with another inmate was able to quietly leave the prison without detection for 19 hours. In the most brazen and recent case, nine juveniles broke out of a maximum security juvenile detention facility after a mass riot erupted.
September 17 – Nine juveniles escaped from Abraxas Academy (juvenile detention center), amid a riot in Morgantown, Pennsylvania. State and local police responded to the high security facility to help prison officials regain control, and to capture those inmates who fled. Some officers were injured in the riot. By Sept. 18, all had reportedly been captured. Seven of the nine escaped juveniles were from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
September 14 – Three teens escaped a Dauphin County juvenile detention center. The three eluded the facility at 11:45 p.m. during a diversion, as reported in a county press release. Two of the three suspects remain on the run at this time and are believed to be a danger to the community.
September 2 – “Violent” teen Aubree McClendon, 17, escaped Loysville Youth Development Center in Perry County. He was captured the next day, but residents were advised to lock doors and remain vigilant.
August 31 – Convicted killer Danilo Cavalcante escaped from Chester County Prison, going undetected for two weeks, while hundreds of law enforcement officials, including state police and US Border Patrol eventually tracked him down using thermal imaging and K-9 units. Cavalcante is also wanted in his native Brazil in a 2017 homicide case, according to the US Marshals Service.
July 15 – David Joseph Kinney, 18, escaped from a Keystone Adolescent Center in Greenville, PA, along with a juvenile.
July 6 – Michael Burham, considered armed and dangerous upon his escape, fled Warren County Prison, and was on the run for more than a week.
May 7 – Two prisoners – Nasir Grant, 24, and Ameen Hurst, 18 – escaped Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center and 19 hours passed before their departure was discovered, despite head counts at facility. Hurst, who goes by moniker Demon Time, is accused of four murders. Grant was incarcerated on drug and gun charges. The investigation of the escape led to the arrest of two additional suspects who allegedly helped the prisoners escape.
February 23 – Three teens – David Fahy-Glover, 18, of Latrobe; Jacob Rible, 19, of Latrobe and a juvenile escaped from Adephoi Village near Latrobe, only to lead police on a chase that ended in a crash scene.
Harrisburg100 