Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 26, 1994 TAG: 9412010061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LINVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Corrections officers, state police and local police using bloodhounds and a helicopter had searched all day Friday for the escapees near the Rockingham-Augusta county border, where a Jeep stolen from outside the prison was found in a ravine along Interstate 81, said Department of Corrections spokesman Jim Jones.
``We are following up on all leads in that area,'' Jones said. ``People are calling in and police are tracking down sightings of people and vehicles.'' Jones said there was a report of a stolen pickup truck in the area.
The escapees were sentenced for crimes that included larceny, burglary and cocaine possession.
Jones said the guards at Harrisonburg Correctional Unit No. 8 were checking the 135 inmates about 12:45 a.m. when the escape occurred. The prison is about five miles north of Harrisonburg near the Rockingham County community of Linville.
``They opened the gate to allow an inmate to bring out some cleaning equipment,'' Jones said. ``At that point, five of the inmates rushed the gate, overpowered the two platform officers and locked the other two in the dormitories.''
The inmates attacked the two guards outside the dormitory, Jones said. One guard was beaten with a broom handle, while one of the inmates used a cast on his wrist to beat the other. Jones said the guard beaten with the broom handle was treated for lacerations on his nose and bruises on his upper body and face and released from Rockingham Memorial Hospital. The other guard remained in the hospital Friday with a possible head injury, Jones said.
``His injuries are serious but not life-threatening,'' Jones said.
The two guards who were locked in the dormitory area were separated from the prison population by another gate and were not injured. After subduing the guards, the inmates broke into a locker and took the keys to the front gate and a guard's Jeep.
One of the injured guards was able to sound an alarm that woke an off-duty officer in the guard's quarters next door. He called an ambulance and freed the locked-in guards.
Jones said
The escaped inmates were:
George E. Cozino, 21, serving a sentence of 13 years for grand larceny in Richmond and Henrico County.
Wayne C. Anderson, 21, serving a sentence of 13 years for burglary, grand larceny and driving on a suspended license in Winchester and Frederick County.
Wayne G. Weis, 20, serving a sentence of 15 years for breaking and entering, grand larceny and burglary in Northumberland and Hanover counties.
Phillip W. Hayes, 19, serving a sentence of four years for possession of cocaine in Richmond.
Charles W. Mongold, 23, serving a sentence of 17 years for robbery in Shenandoah County.
by CNB