Tony
12-14-2007, 09:10 AM
A massive manhunt is continuing for a violent ****** and another prisoner who broke out of a prison van near a busy highway in west Melbourne.
Troy Lowe and Gregory Caulfield managed to barge their way out of the van along with a third inmate while they were being transferred from one prison to another, shortly before 11am (AEDT) on Friday.
One of the escapees was picked up less than 90 minutes later near Footscray cemetery, still handcuffed, police said.
Detectives leading the manhunt for 26-year-old Lowe and Caulfield, 30, urged the public to immediately call triple-0 and not to approach the two men if sighted, saying the pair were career criminals with a violent past.
Lowe, from Melbourne's western suburbs, was convicted of **** in 1999, though all three escapees were currently on detention on varying theft and burglary charges.
"Both prisoners have a long criminal history and both have prior convictions in relation to serious crime," Detective Senior Sergeant Kerin Moloney (Kerin Moloney) told reporters.
"We would ask the public if they see these prisoners not to approach them under any circumstances but immediately call police on triple-0."
A passing motorist alerted prison officers that the rear door of the van was flapping open while on Grieve Parade, Altona North, just after exiting the Western Ring Road, Mr Moloney said.
He added urgent investigations were still continuing to determine how the three men broke out.
"It's too early to indicate specifically but one consideration is that the door was not secured properly, the other consideration is that the doors were forced," Det Sen-Sgt Moloney said.
He added investigators were also still trying to determine whether it was an opportunist breakout or pre-planned and would be studying video footage from inside the van as part of ongoing inquiries.
The three escapees were with three other prisoners in one of four compartments in the back of the prison van. Eight inmates were in another compartment.
All 14 were handcuffed inside and were being transferred from the Melbourne Assessment Prison in the CBD to Port Phillip Prison when the break-out happened.
"The prisoners were not able to tell exactly where they were - there were no windows for them to see out. They would not have known their exact location," acting Senior Sergeant Graeme Betts told reporters at the crime scene.
He said no effort would be spared in catching Lowe and Caulfield, with several air and sniffer dog patrols being backed up by dozens of uniformed and plain-clothed police officers scouring a wide area in and around Altona North.
"We've got great resources and very experienced investigators on the road and hopefully we will have them caught very shortly," he added.
Lowe, of Melton, in Melbourne's western suburbs, is described as being 175cm tall, with black crew-cut hair, of medium build, and was wearing black track pants and possibly a white T-shirt.
Caulfield, from Bendigo, is 180cm tall, 75kg, with short, brown spiky hair, blue shorts and a cream T-shirt.
Police later named the recaptured escapee as Brandon Pinder, 29, also from Bendigo. He was arrested without incident at Francis Street, Yarraville.
The prison van, owned by Victoria Police and carrying police markings, was being leased out to a private security contractor working for the Victorian Department of Justice.
The remaining 11 prisoners were later transferred under tight security one-by-one to two separate unmarked prison vans amid traffic chaos at the Grieve Parade-Western Ring Road junction.
Troy Lowe and Gregory Caulfield managed to barge their way out of the van along with a third inmate while they were being transferred from one prison to another, shortly before 11am (AEDT) on Friday.
One of the escapees was picked up less than 90 minutes later near Footscray cemetery, still handcuffed, police said.
Detectives leading the manhunt for 26-year-old Lowe and Caulfield, 30, urged the public to immediately call triple-0 and not to approach the two men if sighted, saying the pair were career criminals with a violent past.
Lowe, from Melbourne's western suburbs, was convicted of **** in 1999, though all three escapees were currently on detention on varying theft and burglary charges.
"Both prisoners have a long criminal history and both have prior convictions in relation to serious crime," Detective Senior Sergeant Kerin Moloney (Kerin Moloney) told reporters.
"We would ask the public if they see these prisoners not to approach them under any circumstances but immediately call police on triple-0."
A passing motorist alerted prison officers that the rear door of the van was flapping open while on Grieve Parade, Altona North, just after exiting the Western Ring Road, Mr Moloney said.
He added urgent investigations were still continuing to determine how the three men broke out.
"It's too early to indicate specifically but one consideration is that the door was not secured properly, the other consideration is that the doors were forced," Det Sen-Sgt Moloney said.
He added investigators were also still trying to determine whether it was an opportunist breakout or pre-planned and would be studying video footage from inside the van as part of ongoing inquiries.
The three escapees were with three other prisoners in one of four compartments in the back of the prison van. Eight inmates were in another compartment.
All 14 were handcuffed inside and were being transferred from the Melbourne Assessment Prison in the CBD to Port Phillip Prison when the break-out happened.
"The prisoners were not able to tell exactly where they were - there were no windows for them to see out. They would not have known their exact location," acting Senior Sergeant Graeme Betts told reporters at the crime scene.
He said no effort would be spared in catching Lowe and Caulfield, with several air and sniffer dog patrols being backed up by dozens of uniformed and plain-clothed police officers scouring a wide area in and around Altona North.
"We've got great resources and very experienced investigators on the road and hopefully we will have them caught very shortly," he added.
Lowe, of Melton, in Melbourne's western suburbs, is described as being 175cm tall, with black crew-cut hair, of medium build, and was wearing black track pants and possibly a white T-shirt.
Caulfield, from Bendigo, is 180cm tall, 75kg, with short, brown spiky hair, blue shorts and a cream T-shirt.
Police later named the recaptured escapee as Brandon Pinder, 29, also from Bendigo. He was arrested without incident at Francis Street, Yarraville.
The prison van, owned by Victoria Police and carrying police markings, was being leased out to a private security contractor working for the Victorian Department of Justice.
The remaining 11 prisoners were later transferred under tight security one-by-one to two separate unmarked prison vans amid traffic chaos at the Grieve Parade-Western Ring Road junction.