MUSKEGON, Mich. -- A prisoner in Muskegon set up an elaborate plan to escape, but he got caught by a prison guard. That's according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Patrick Daniel, 44, is in the EC Brooks Correctional Facility. He's serving a life sentence for killing two people in 2001 and 2002.
A union representative for Michigan's correction officers, Tom Tylutki, said Daniel's escape plan was foiled Wednesday.
“It’s a real credit to our staff for being very alert," Chris Gautz, the Michigan Department of Correction's spokesperson said.
MDOC won't confirm Daniel's identity, but Gautz said the department believes the prisoner was acting alone.
Gautz said, "The officer was very alert and noticed something that didn’t appear right in one of the locations, and that led him to discover who the prisoner was and also subsequent locations where he also stored the other materials."
Tylutki confirmed that a prison guard searched a trash can as part of a routine sweep and found a spray painted prison uniform. That uniform led them to Daniel’s cell where they found another painted jump suit, two hand-drawn maps of West Michigan, a homemade compass, weapons and other items found in the prison.
Gautz said EC Brooks is a Level 2, medium-security prison.
“He has been raised to a level 5 which is our maximum security classification, and he’s currently housed in administrative segregation, at the muskegon correctional facility," Gautz explained.
Gautz said Daniel will be moved to a facility that houses level 5 prisoners.
He added, "Part of our investigation is going to be to determine how this prisoner was able to amass this amount of materials in several different locations before someone noticed."
The Michigan State Police also launched an investigation.
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