Danelo Cavalcante.Photo:Chester County Prison via AP
Chester County Prison via AP
After a 13-day manhunt, authorities arrested escaped fugitiveDanelo Cavalcanteon Wednesday. But prior tohis capture, as the fugitive repeatedly slipped through the fingers of hundreds of law enforcement officials tasked with finding him, many had the same question: How does he keep evading authorities?
Patrick McCall, President of the security firm McCall Risk Group Inc., says Cavalcante’s escape stemmed from the perfect storm of a suspect with skills in evading authorities and a medium security prison.
The Chester County Prison in Chester County, Pa., was housing Cavalcante at the time of his escape, which took place just a few months after another inmate escaped: Igor Vidra Bolte escaped the facility in May, but he was caught within minutes of his attempt.
The guard who was on watchtower duty at the time of Cavalcante’s escape was fired on Thursday, according toWHYY,6ABC Action Newsand theDailyTimes.
McCall tells PEOPLE that it’s easiest to catch an escaped inmate within the initial minutes of the escape, as had been the case with Bolte. McCall says the fact that Cavalcante was able to break free was “definitely a failure” on the part of the authorities.
Danelo Cavalcante.PA State Police/Facebook
PA State Police/Facebook
With Cavalcante’s history of evading authorities in his native Brazil, where he is reportedly wanted in a 2017 murder, and his subsequent escape from authorities for his ex-girlfriend’s murder in Pennsylvania 2021, McCall says he should have been subject to increased security.
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It remains unclear when or how he entered the U.S., except that he entered through Puerto Rico before making his way up east, according toWTAE Pittsburgh, theThePhiladelphiaInquirer, andBBC.
After fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend in front of her two children in 2021, Cavalcante escaped to Virginia before he was caught, according to a 2021 press release from the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.
Meanwhile, the county prison where he was held has its own possible vulnerabilities that likely made it possible for Cavalcante to escape.
The warden who was in charge when Bolte escaped in May was let go in August, according to theDailyLocalNews, which also reported that the facility is heavily understaffed. While there are 700 inmates in the facility, the prison is 55 correctional officers short, according to the report.
“Inmates are always thinking of escaping,” McCall says, “they are watching the guard more than the guards are watching them.”
On Wednesday, at apress conferencefollowing Cavalcante’s capture, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said the Chester County Prison “obviously [has] a lot of work to do there,” and that the state department will be available to assist with “any reviews or in any other work they need done to make sure that that facility is secured.”
source: people.com
