The razor wire fence prevent the prison break
Somehow, accused rapist John N. Santoro was able to escape through two metal chain link fences — both topped with barbed or razor wire — when law enforcers said he made his escape attempt from the Oneida County Jail Wednesday afternoon.
The unshackled Santoro made it across Judd Road and was almost into the woods when he was caught by pursuing deputies, according to Undersheriff Robert S. Swenszkowski.
Now they are trying to determine how Santoro made it that far. "Once they saw him escaping, they called a code for an escape and he was pursued," Swenszkowski stated. "We want to determine if this was planned, was this spur of the moment, was anyone else involved?"
Wednesday’s escape attempt is only the latest escapade for Santoro, age 25, who has had repeated arguments with the judge in County Court and has had to wear a spit mask due to an ongoing dispute with his former defense attorney. He has been charged with first-degree escape, a class D felony, authorities said, and is once again back in county jail without bail.
"He’s basically in a special watch, a high risk evaluation kind of thing," Swenszkowski explained.
Santoro is accused of making his escape attempt at about 2:20 p.m. from a covered recreation yard at the facility. Swenszkowski said the yard is a penned-in area between two other wings of the facility, with one fenced side opening to the outside. Santoro was not hand-cuffed or shackled during this recreation time, though Swenszkowski would not say if there were any other inmates in the area.
The undersheriff said the recreation area itself has a metal fence with barbed wire on top, and beyond that is the metal and razor wire fence that surrounds the entire complex. He said the Sheriff’s Office is trying to figure out how Santoro made it past those two fences.
On Wednesday morning, Santoro appeared in County Court to reject a plea offer of 3 1/2 to seven years in prison on accusations that he telephoned and harassed his rape victim from the county jail. Swenszkowski said he did not know how long it was between Santoro’s return from court and his attempted escape.
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