MONTREAL (AP) — Two Quebec inmates grabbed a rope attached to a hijacked helicopter to make a daring daylight escape from a prison outside Montreal, then led police in a car chase and exchanged gunfire at a rural cabin before they were finally recaptured, authorities said Monday.
Yves Le Roux, president of the helicopter rental company, Passport-Hélico, said Monday two men posed as tourists who wanted to take a flight over Mount-Tremblant before they pulled a gun on the pilot and told him to fly to the prison and land on one of the buildings.
Quebec provincial police spokesman Benoit Richard said Monday that they had arrested four people about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the Saint-Jerome prison from which the inmates escaped.
Richard said the charges could include attempted murder, hijacking an aircraft, evasion, possession of restricted weapons and breaking and entering.
Quebec provincial police tracked down the helicopter used in the escape to Mont-Tremblant, about 53 miles (85 kilometers) away from the jail but only the chopper's pilot was still at the scene.
Hudon-Barbeau was arrested in November on two firearm related charges and associating with people with criminal histories, according to a provincial police report.
A helicopter swooped down on a prison courtyard in Greece last month as armed men on board fired on guards and lowered a rope to help a convicted killer make his fourth attempt to escape from the prison.
In 2009, one of Greece's most wanted men, bank robber Vassilis Paleokostas, escaped from from a prison with another inmate by helicopter — staging their second chopper getaway in three years.
In that incident, police were called in to secure the outside of the jail, which holds about 480 inmates, and jail staff used pepper spray to disperse the mob.
Yves Le Roux, president of the helicopter rental company, Passport-Hélico, said Monday two men posed as tourists who wanted to take a flight over Mount-Tremblant before they pulled a gun on the pilot and told him to fly to the prison and land on one of the buildings.
Quebec provincial police spokesman Benoit Richard said Monday that they had arrested four people about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the Saint-Jerome prison from which the inmates escaped.
Richard said the charges could include attempted murder, hijacking an aircraft, evasion, possession of restricted weapons and breaking and entering.
Quebec provincial police tracked down the helicopter used in the escape to Mont-Tremblant, about 53 miles (85 kilometers) away from the jail but only the chopper's pilot was still at the scene.
Hudon-Barbeau was arrested in November on two firearm related charges and associating with people with criminal histories, according to a provincial police report.
A helicopter swooped down on a prison courtyard in Greece last month as armed men on board fired on guards and lowered a rope to help a convicted killer make his fourth attempt to escape from the prison.
In 2009, one of Greece's most wanted men, bank robber Vassilis Paleokostas, escaped from from a prison with another inmate by helicopter — staging their second chopper getaway in three years.
In that incident, police were called in to secure the outside of the jail, which holds about 480 inmates, and jail staff used pepper spray to disperse the mob.
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sfgate.com |