Two prisoners escaped a correctional center in Philadelphia, including a teen who was accused of killing another man outside the same facility more than two years ago, investigators said. NBC10’s Aaron Baskerville has the details.
What to Know
- Two inmates at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on 8301 State Road -- Nasir Grant, 24, and Ameen Hurst, 18 -- escaped at about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.
- Hurst had been held on four murder charges. Grant was held on drug and firearm charges.
- Video surveillance showed the men cut a hole in an fence in a recreation yard in order to escape.
UPDATE: The escape of both prisoners is shedding light on current issues with Philadelphia’s jails and leading to more calls for the city’s prisons commissioner to step down. Claudia Vargas of the NBC 10 Investigators and Rosemary Connors have the details and responses from the prisons commissioner as well as the union leader who wants her to resign. CLICK HERE for the full story and videos.
Two prisoners escaped a correctional center in Philadelphia, including a teen who was accused of killing another man outside the same facility more than two years ago, investigators said.
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Nasir Grant, 24, and Ameen Hurst, 18, escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on 8301 State Road around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, according to police.
Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney said all prisoners were reported as accounted for when head counts were taken at 11 p.m. Sunday, 3 a.m. Monday and 7 a.m. Monday, despite Grant and Hurst escaping earlier Sunday evening.
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It wasn't until a head count at 3 p.m. Monday when officials at the center realized Grant and Hurst had escaped more than 18 hours earlier, according to Carney. Surveillance video showed Grant and Hurst cutting a hole in the fence of the recreation yard and escaping Sunday evening, police said.
"I'm really angry about it. There is no reason for this. And if everybody followed through and do what they are supposed to do, we wouldn't have this problem," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said during a Monday evening press conference. "Clearly the system screwed up and people didn't do what they are supposed to do. It's clear. But we want to find out exactly who, exactly how often, and what we have to do to make sure it's back up again."
The entire facility was placed on lockdown and all other inmates were accounted for, according to Carney. Philadelphia Police and U.S. Marshals were notified and are all involved in the investigation.
"We have ongoing perimeter patrols as well as campus patrols. Just to make sure that there are no additional incidents. But this is part of our investigation," Carney said.
Officials are also investigating the Center's handling of the incident.
"As part of our investigation, I have reached out to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to conduct a facility vulnerability assessment and security assessment as soon as possible that will help in our investigation to see any of our vulnerable points," Carney said.
Grant and Hurst were in the same unit at the facility but in different cells. Images obtained by NBC10 show workers on Tuesday assessing a hole in the outside fence where the prisoners escaped.
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Grant is described as a Black male standing 5-foot-9 and weighing 160 pounds. Hurst is described as a Black male standing 6-feet and weighing 140 pounds.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Marshals Service said it is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to each person’s arrest. Philadelphia has also set up a reward for $20,000 for information that leads to an arrest of either escaped inmate.
If you have any information on their whereabouts, please call Philadelphia Police at 215-686-TIPS or 911. You can also contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-800-336-0102.
Grant had been admitted to the center on September 28, 2022, on criminal conspiracy, violation of the uniform firearms act and drug charges, officials said.
Hurst had been admitted to the center on March, 21, 2021, on four murder charges, including the deadly shooting of Rodney Hargrove outside the same facility back in March of 2021.
Hargrove, 20, was initially arrested for theft and weapons charges on March 11, 2021, and was being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, which is part of the Philadelphia Correctional Center.
Hargrove was released after posting $200,000 bail on March 18, 2021. He was dropped off at a SEPTA bus stop across the street from the main gate of the jail complex and was waiting for his family to pick him up after giving them a call, investigators said.
Hargrove ran back across the street and onto the CFCF campus as a driver in a dark-colored vehicle pursued him after going under the raised arm of the gate, according to police.
A gunman then fired at least ten shots. Hargrove was shot and killed near the main gate and bus stop, only 45 minutes after he had been released.
Hurst was also charged in three other Philadelphia murders.
On Dec. 24, 2020, police responded to the 1800 block of Wynnewood Road for a report of a person with a gun. When they arrived they found Dyewou Nyshawn Scruggs, 20, on the ground suffering from several gunshot wounds to the torso. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:46 a.m. that day.
Scruggs was an aspiring comedian who was filming a social media post.
On March 12, 2021, at 3:04 p.m., police responded to a shooting on the 1400 block of North 76th Street. Before police arrived, four shooting victims were taken by private vehicles to a local hospital.
Naquon Smith, 24, who was shot in the chest, arm and shoulder, was pronounced dead at 3:12 p.m. Tamir Brown, 16, who had been shot several times, was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m.
Two more shooting victims, both 19 years of age, were placed in critical condition.
On March 21, 2021, Hurst was arrested and charged as an adult with Scruggs’ murder. On April 21, 2021, Hurst was arrested again and charged as an adult in the murders of Smith and Brown.
Finally, on April 28, 2021, Hurst was charged in Hargrove’s death.
Hargrove's family filed a lawsuit against the city and corrections facility, citing negligence, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Monday night, an attorney released a statement on Hurst's escape on behalf of Hargrove's family.
“The Hargrove family prays that no one is injured or further harmed now that Mr. Hurst is no longer in custody and sincerely hopes that he is apprehended quickly," the attorney wrote.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner also released a statement on the escape Tuesday afternoon.
"The DA’s Office is in contact with the families impacted by the homicides we allege were committed by Ameen Hurst, as well as witnesses who may be called to provide testimony at trial,” Krasner wrote. “The safety of victims and witnesses who may be at risk of intimidation or retaliation is of the highest importance to our prosecutors and to the DA’s Victim Support Services Division.”
The Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, which opened in 1986, has 13 housing units dividing an incarcerated population of adult men.
