Click here for updates on this story
Cheshire, CT (WFSB) — State police released new details about how an inmate at a prison in Cheshire escaped during the height of trick-or-treating on Wednesday.
Luis Clarke, 25, hid during a recreational hour at the Cheshire Correctional Institution on Wednesday evening, according to state police.
Corrections officers realized he was missing around 6:15 p.m. They found a bloody sweatshirt and a picnic table that was pushed upright. That’s what allowed Clarke to scale a fence.
He got out during peak trick-or-treating time on Halloween, officials said.
The news triggered a massive search.
K9 crews were out tracking Clarke’s scent while other officers combed the area.
Roughly two hours later, state police said Clarke was captured on Broad Street in Meriden. He had gone a distance of about 10 miles.
Channel 3 learned that Clarke is from Wallingford and was convicted in 2015 of criminal trespass, driving under the influence and interfering with officers.
He entered Cheshire Correctional Institution on June 29 and was supposed to serve 18 months for violating his probation.
According to paperwork, Clarke told investigators, “He recently became depressed after breaking up with his girlfriend…’
His girlfriend is the mother of his child and she, “Ended their relationship and stopped accepting his calls from prison.”
Cheshire police said they sent a reverse 911 call to alert neighbors, many of whom were out with their children.
“We’re still actively reviewing the response and actively reviewing our notification system and everything,” said Sean Kimball, town manager, Cheshire. “If there are improvements to be made we will. But no doubt it was definitely a difficult situation.”
The town’s “code red system” took about 15 minutes to make 18,000 phone calls to alert the public.
Officials urged people to register their phone numbers with the system.
“It’s just an emergency alert over the telephone and they tell what was happening in the area,” said Robert Venice of Cheshire. “It’s probably one of the better nights if they were going to do something like that, if they were going to blend in.”
State police said Clarke stole a car from a pizza delivery driver.
There was a cell phone in the vehicle, so troopers said they were able to ping the signal, which helped in the hunt.
“His car was parked right out here and he was taking some deliveries out and came back inside to grab more deliveries and noticied his car was missing,” said Kim Liso.
Kim Liso from Mr. Bimonte’s Pizza said this was all in the middle of a big rush as they were slammed with pizza deliveries.
“It was a perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, for my driver and for us, it was all bad timing, but it was a perfect opportunity for him, so he took it and ran literally,” Liso said.
Clarke left the stolen car at the Cheshire Academy and then was picked up by a passing driver who brought him to a home in Meriden.
The paperwork said, “During the car ride, the man questioned Inmate Clarke about his clothing and appearance. Inmate Clarke responded he had been in a fight at a Halloween party. He told the man he was wearing a prison inmate costume.”
The man wouldn’t drive Clarke to Bristol like he had asked, so Clark called and Uber and that’s when police arrived.
He was caught there around 9:30 p.m.
Cheshire Police, Department of Corrections, CTIC, and K9 units assisted in the investigation.
According to Police, Clarke has been charged with Escape, Larceny, and is being held on a $500,000 bond.
He is scheduled to be in Meriden court today.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
