- You know, they say that truth is stranger than fiction.
That definitely applies here.
So, we've all seen the movies and TV shows
dedicated to this topic that, sometimes seems far-fetched.
I mean, Prison Break? C'mon!
When they ended up in the jail that was run by the inmates,
I just, I gave up on the show at that point.
But, surprisingly, most of what you've seen in entertainment
was most likely less bizarre and more probable
than the actual methods that these convicts used to escape.
So get ready to hear about some escapes
that would make Houdini jealous,
because here are the
10 craziest prison escapes of all time.
Number one is the dental floss escape.
Vincenzo Curcio was a convicted murderer
and a member of the Sicilian mafia
that was about to face prosecution.
On March 17th, 2000,
he escaped from his cell in Turin, Italy
by sawing through the bars
using only a piece of dental floss.
Being built in 1970, the prison was designed
to handle outside attacks rather than escapes,
so, just with dental floss, and some patience,
he was able to slowly cut through the cheap metal.
After escaping his cell, Curcio went old-school
by tying some bed sheets together
and climbed out a window down to freedom.
It's like Rapunzel!
Just, a lot more evil.
Number two is the master crafters escape.
On January 3rd, 1995, three inmates escaped
from Britain's Parkhurst prison using tools
that they built within the institution's walls.
In the prison's sheet metal shop,
the trio managed to not only build
a ladder long enough to scale the fences,
but also managed to fashion a working gun and a master key.
The master key itself, however,
was the most impressive, as reports claim
that the inmates crafted it from memory
after seeing the officer's key.
After hiding it in the prison gym until nobody was around,
They simply walked out the back door,
cut a hole in the inner-fence, and then
scaled the outer wall with the ladder.
The plan was fool-proof except, that upon escaping,
they discovered that they were on an island
and had nowhere to go.
A for effort though, guys! (chuckles)
You're screwed, but A for effort.
Number three is mother truckers escape.
On April 11th of 1998 Jay Sigler, in his 8th year
of the 20 year sentence he was serving
at the Everglades Correctional Institution in Florida,
was in the courtyard waiting for visitors to arrive,
and arrive they did.
They arrived in the form of a Mack truck
smashing through four prison fences
before its occupants then opened fire with shotguns
against the facility's security team.
Another car followed closely behind the truck,
driven by his own mother, Sandra.
Well, this just gets weirder.
After jumping in his mom's car
and switching cars twice to throw off his pursuers,
the entire crew actually got away,
for a bit.
That is, until they were recognized from the news
which resulted in a car chase and a subsequent car crash
after which they were all arrested.
Oh, and not long after, Sandra Sigler
testified against her son to reduce her sentence.
That is a confused mother.
Mother of the year award.
(chuckles sarcastically) No.
Number four is the great escape.
Stalag Luft III was a German prisoner of war camp
that held enemy Air Force servicemen during World War II
and was deemed inescapable.
That was until British inmate Roger Bushell
hatched an escape plan with over 600 other prisoners.
This one was elaborate.
After digging three separate tunnels,
each nine meters deep to avoid setting off
the seismograph microphones along the fences,
they finally launched the plan,
and on March 24th, 1944, the great escape began.
Out of 200 men, only 76 actually made it
and all but three were recaptured.
In fact, Roger Bushell and 49 other escapees
were then executed on orders from Adolph Hitler himself.
Sayonara, buttholes!
Oh, you see that, Hitler learned some Japanese.
Hitler so smart!
Number five is the helicopter escape.
Just after barely starting his 30 year sentence,
convict Pascal Payet made a daring plan
to escape from Luynes prison in France.
On October 12th, 2001, a friend hijacked a helicopter
and landed it in the prison courtyard
where Payet simply hopped on and flew away.
And, unbelievably, he got away.
Unfortunately, he tested his luck by actually returning
just two years later to break out three other inmates,
and all of them were recaptured.
However, if that wasn't crazy enough for you,
in an unbelievable twist in 2007,
four masked men hijacked yet another helicopter
and once again, Payet was broken out of prison.
And, of course, he was once again
recaptured just shortly after.
This time, locked away in a secret location
with no contact to the outside world.
Some people just don't learn their lesson.
You got away, Brah.
Just, shoulda just flew.
Flew like a bird.
(whistles like a bird)
Number six is the Texan seven escape.
On December 13th, 2000, seven prisoners escaped
from the John B. Connally Unit,
a maximum security prison in Texas.
They managed to overpower and restrain 16 people,
including officers, civilian maintenance workers,
and inmates not in on their plan.
Dressed as civilians, three of the prisoners
subdued unsuspecting guards while the remaining four
made phone calls to the guard towers
to distract them from watching the gates.
Stealing a white prison van,
and easily opening the rear gate,
the Texan seven made their daring escape.
But, as we've learned, people like to test their luck,
and just two weeks after, the seven men robbed
a sporting goods store, killing a police officer,
which got them national attention on America's Most Wanted,
after which they were quickly apprehended
in a RV in a park in Colorado.
I'm not advocating crime, you know, or anything like that,
but, if you actually did a crime, got in jail,
and then escaped, you would be lucky
to live the rest of your life with a wig,
shaving your legs, just pretending to be, you know,
I would be Matilda, instead of Matt, I'd be Matilda.
Keep my mouth shut and don't rob anything.
It's just, it's stupid.
Number seven is the Italian escape.
Antonio Ferrara, an Italian-born explosives expert
and bank robber was serving an eight year sentence
in France's Fresnes jail.
On March 12th, 2003, six men in police uniforms
pulled up in three fake cruisers
and opened fire on the prison gates
with AK-47s and rocket-powered grenade launchers.
It's like real life Goldeneye 007.
Ferrara used a stick of dynamite a guard had slipped him
to blow open his cell door and ran through
the now-destroyed gates to the chaos outside.
Ferrara escaped in the police cars using fires
that the attackers had previously set
as distractions for emergency responders.
An incredible scene any Jack Bauer fan
would have been proud of, except that just four months later
an undercover sting brought down every member of the attack.
See, nobody's got, like, an after-game plan.
They have a game plan and then it's like,
"I'm free!
"Now I'm caught again, okay, I'm goin'.
"All right, that's fine."
Number eight is the death camp escape.
On October 14th, 1943, a group of prisoners
killed 11 German officers inside a Nazi prisoner camp
under the cover of night.
Restraining the inner guards,
and emptying the camp's armory,
the group planned to take out all of the officers
and escape with all 600 prisoners.
Talk about a lofty goal.
Unfortunately, the remaining German officers
found the bodies of the fallen Nazis
and opened fire on the loose prisoners
who had to make a run for the woods.
Nearly 300 people did escape,
the rest being claimed by gunfire or the mine field.
While this was a valiant effort,
and it would be more upsetting
to know that those people died,
but, we all know how World War II ended, so, yeah.
The good guys won. (clicks tongue)
Number nine is Frank Abagnale-prison inspector.
Sentenced to 12 years for multiple forgeries,
Frank Abagnale Jr. was being transferred
from the federal detention center in Atlanta, Georgia
to await trail when he became aware
that the U.S. Marshall escorting him
had actually forgotten the detention commitment papers.
Knowing that this was highly irregular,
the con man used this slip-up to convince the guards
that he was an undercover inspector
investigating the facility for the FBI.
Unbelievably, the guards actually let Frank
walk right out the front door to meet with an agent,
a.k.a. his criminal friend with whom
he sped off into the night.
Hang on, is this one really an escape if they let you go?
That's a philosophical question.
And number 10 is Alcatraz.
On June 11th, 1962, three prisoners
Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris
escaped the world's most famous inescapable prison.
Alcatraz.
After using dummies of themselves to convince the guards
that they were still in their beds,
they crawled out of tunnels in their cells
that they had been digging for a year with only spoons.
After sneaking up an unused service corridor,
they climbed up a ventilation shaft to the roof
and then scaled a fence to reach the island's edge.
Finally, they chartered across
the icy Pacific waters to freedom
using a raft that they had made
out of raincoats and contact cement.
However, no evidence of them either
successfully reaching the shore, or drowning exists,
making it a hot topic of debate for decades.
And those were the
10 most insane prison escapes of all time.
As always, I really appreciate you guys
watching this episode, thank you so much.
Be sure to leave a comment letting me know
what you want the topic of the next top 10 to be.
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It's gonna be a doozy.
Peace.
(exclaims)