Police want a Philadelphia jail inmate who walked away from a labor detail. On Friday, police searched for a Philadelphia convict who escaped by strolling away from a work detail, the fourth escape this year.
Gino Hagenkotter is pictured in this official City of Philadelphia photo. On Friday, December 1, 2023, authorities were looking for Hagenkotter, an inmate who had broken out of a Philadelphia jail by leaving a labor assignment. This was the fourth city lockup breakout of the year. (Source: City of Philadelphia via AP)
An Inmate of Philadelphia Jail Escapes
Blanche Carney, commissioner of the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, said Gino Hagenkotter, 34, who was serving time for theft and burglary, asked the guard assigned to him for permission to use the bathroom while working in the orchard on the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Centre in northeast Philadelphia shortly before noon Thursday. Following Hagenkotter’s absence, officials said the guard investigated the restroom but found him missing. Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said Hagenkotter jumped a fence, entered a city sanitation department yard close to the prison, removed his jumpsuit, and was last seen going down the street on security video. Nobody was wounded.
Vanore said Hagenkotter has “no dangerous history,” but officials advised against approaching him and urging witnesses to phone the police. On Thursday, Hagenkotter was scheduled to leave Riverside Correctional Facility for a transitional program. Carney said officials canceled the transfer after finding Hagenkotter had open retail theft charges in suburban Bucks County and told him he would serve time at Riverside until April. She said officials believe that influenced his escape. He is the fourth Philadelphia escapee this year. Two prisoners, including one charged with four murders, escaped the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Centre in May via a chain-link fence opening. The men were lost for about 19 hours before authorities discovered them. They captured both. In September, a lady scaled two razor-wire fences to escape the same jail.
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