Bucky Phillips accused of having 'escape' items in cell

The career criminal who was the subject of New York’s largest manhunt is accused of possessing “escape paraphernalia” at the upstate prison where he’s serving a life sentence for killing a state trooper.

State corrections department officials told media outlets in Buffalo and Elmira Tuesday that Ralph “Bucky” Phillips was charged with violating prison regulations Monday after a search of his cell in a special housing unit turned up items prohibited at the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in northern New York.

Officials aren’t commenting on the exact nature of the items.

Phillips shot and wounded two troopers and fatally wounded a third after he escaped from a Buffalo-area jail in 2006. He spent five months on the run before being captured in western Pennsylvania.

Troopers Joseph Longobardo of Middle Grove in Saratoga County and Donald Baker Jr. of Clifton Park were among those shot by Phillips. Baker was struck in the back and Longobardo was struck in the leg, severing an artery. Longobardo died from his injuries but Baker recovered.