The search focused on Allegany county at one point, drawing a massive law enforcement response
By Andrew Harris
Nothing captures the public’s attention like dangerous criminals who have escaped from prison and are on the loose. Seven years ago, two men escaped from a prison in the northeast corner of New York State after hatching a scheme with a prison employee who had become romantically compromised. After a few days without capture, authorities warned that the convicts could be anywhere.
Suddenly everyone in Allegany County locked the back shed and kept close to home. Home defenses were checked and readied, barking dogs put everyone on edge. Police responded to many suspicious person reports.
The drama reached a surreal level when someone in Friendship reported what was treated as a credible sighting. A massive search ensued, every law enforcement agency in the area was either deployed or on high alert. The panic ended as quickly as it started, the manhunt ended near the jail that the pair escaped from, with Richard Matt dead and cop killer David Sweat in custody.
In jail, Sweat has continued to be a menace. The convict began a hunger strike in 2017 and in 2018, Sweat was charged with a sex act in the prison with a women who was visiting him. Read more about that on NY Up:
Since his infamy, Sweat has been transferred to four different prisons and is back in the news…
His latest hunger strike isn’t getting much sympathy. The cop killer is attempting to use the protest method to get transferred back to a prison he was previously held in. Officials at the Great Meadow State Prison in Washington County, NY have filed to begin force feeding Sweat. For more visit the Times Union:
