Inmates who escaped by helicopter from Quebec prison hunted by police

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/08/quebec-helicopter-prison-escape-canada-search

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A search widened on Sunday for three inmates who escaped with the help of a helicopter from a detention center in Quebec City as dusk approached on Saturday.

It was the second helicopter-aided inmate escape in Quebec province in two years.

The three men escaped from the Orsainville Detention Centre in suburban Quebec City around 7.45pm, with the help of a green-colored helicopter. The chopper landed in the courtyard of the detention centre, which has barbed-wire fencing and a watch post, and then quickly took off with the three inmates, heading west toward Trois-Rivieres or Montreal, police said.

Authorities were put on alert across Quebec, in the rest of Canada and in the United States, according to provincial police.

"We have cooperation with all the police forces across the country and abroad also," said Sergeant Gregory Gomez. "We have many, many officers who are scattering all the areas possible. Investigators are, of course, checking every lead."

Police were reluctant to provide many details about their investigation for fear the escapees could be monitoring media reports.

The escapees were identified as Yves Denis, 35, Denis Lefebvre, 53, and Serge Pomerleau, 49. They were being held at the detention center waiting to stand trial. It was not immediately clear what charges they were facing.

Police released photos of the three men on social media and appealed to the public for help, but warned anyone who spotted them not to approach and immediately contact police.

Audrey-Anne Bilodeau, another police spokeswoman, said on Saturday that police were working with surrounding airports and Quebec's Valcartier military base to help track down the helicopter.

The Orsainville Detention Centre, about six miles from the center of Quebec City, can hold up to 710 offenders.

In March 2013, a helicopter pilot was forced at gunpoint to pluck two inmates from the St-Jerome prison on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Two inmates climbed up a rope ladder into the hovering helicopter and fled.

Police caught the two escapees and the two suspects who hijacked the helicopter within a few hours of the escape.