South Carolina has just recorded the first official prison breakout via drone in American history.
46-year-old Jimmy Causey broke out of the maximum-security Lieber Correctional Institution using wire cutters that were flown in by drone, after coordinating the escape via a smuggled in cell phone, according to prison officials.
On the evening of July 4th, he caught the drone-delivered package out of the sky, left a dummy in his bed, then used the wire cutters to snip his way to freedom through a series of four fences.
He was recaptured 2 days later, 1,200 miles away at a Texas motel with a handgun, shotgun, four cellphones and stacks of cash.
CAPTURED: Escaped inmate Jimmy Causey was apprehended and is no longer at large pic.twitter.com/poCMPk1Dmj
— SC Dept. Corrections (@SCDCNews) July 7, 2017
Drones have been known to deliver illegal items such as drugs and cell phones to prison inmates at other prisons across the country, but this is the first recorded time that the items were used in a breakout. With drones now selling for under $50, it’s easier than ever to attach some contraband, fly it into a prison, and not think twice about.
Officials say there’s no easy way of protecting prisons against drones, other than hiring more guards to watch the fences.
South Carolina has spent millions installing netting around their prison walls so people can’t throw things to inmates, but the nets don’t reach far enough to stop drones.