JOURNAL DE MONTREAL, METRO MONTREAL (Canada), CTV NEWS, CNN (USA), AP
MONTREAL - Two inmates have been recaptured early Monday morning, only one day after their daring escape from a jail northwest of Montreal, in the Canadian Province of Quebec.
Quebec provincial police told the AP they had arrested four people about 30 miles north of the Saint-Jerome jail from which the inmates escaped on Sunday: 36-year-old inmate Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau, arrested Sunday; 33-year-old inmate Danny Provencal, who surrendered peacefully after a brief stand-off with the police; and two other suspects involved in the spectacular getaway.
On Sunday, two men posing as tourists reportedly commandeered a helicopter from a Canadian tour company, ordered the pilot to fly over the Saint-Jerome detention center, hoisted two inmates using cables or ropes into the hovering aircraft – and zipped away, in broad daylight and in full view of incredulous witnesses, CNN reports.
An eyewitness told CTV News that the brazen escape was a real "James Bond moment."
Police quickly managed to locate the helicopter and the pilot about 85 kilometers away in Mont-Tremblant. The Journal de Montréal reveals the pilot was held at gunpoint and forced to execute the A Team-style maneuver.
“As far as I know, it’s a first in Quebec,” Yves Galarneau, the correctional services manager who oversees the Saint-Jerome jail, told Metro Montreal. “It’s exceptional.”
The Saint-Jerome jail has been receiving complaints of overcrowding and reduced staff on weekends.
