Escaped Inmate Recaptured After Nearly 4 Months

(LibertyInsider.org) – Prisons have many security measures to keep inmates from escaping, including guards stationed at every point and razor wire fences at the perimeter. Sometimes, however, prisoners are just too determined to get out and exploit possible weaknesses. One man who escaped from Blair County Prison last December is now back in custody.

Isaiah Tilghman, 33, was jailed on parole violations and narcotics charges when he managed to escape prison on December 3. His disappearance sparked a nearly four-month search that involved the US Marshals Service. Investigators tracked a stolen pick-up truck to Philadelphia. That’s where Tilghman was found on Friday, March 22.

Authorities took Tilghman into custody as he was leaving a Planet Fitness around 200 miles away from the prison. Law enforcement had tailed the suspect, who was driving a black BMW, to the gym. When he exited, more than 20 agents were waiting to take him into custody. He is now facing additional charges of flight to avoid apprehension, escape, and related offenses. He was being held in Philadelphia while awaiting extradition back to Blair County. At the time of his escape, he was un-sentenced.

According to Fox 29, Deputy Robert Clark with the US Marshals said Tilghman’s “arrest was a result of Fugitive Task Forces” from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia “diligently working together.”

Inmate who escaped prison nearly 4 months ago captured leaving a Planet Fitness 200 miles away https://t.co/H3kDSdkJwy pic.twitter.com/5qSnAsCghE

— New York Post (@nypost) March 25, 2024

Tilghman wasn’t the only escapee authorities were seeking in Pennsylvania. Around the same time, law enforcement was on the hunt for 34-year-old Gino Hagenkotter, who had escaped from Philadelphia’s Riverside Correctional Facility on November 30. The inmate, who was jailed on burglary and theft charges, was working on a detail assignment when he asked to use the bathroom. That’s when he fled. He was later found dead in a warehouse in the city.

Hagenkotter’s escape was the third such one from Riverside Correctional Facility that year, including that of convicted murderer Danelo Cavelcante, which led to a 14-day manhunt in September.