Montgomery County inmate accused of trying to escape

PHOTOGRAPHER: John Enger

A jailbreak attempt yielded nothing more than a few new criminal charges against a Montgomery County inmate, authorities said.

The Sheriff’s Department said Raul Vasquez, 21, tried to break out the exterior window of his cell Friday with a piece of furniture but failed.

“The glass broke sort of like a windshield,” said Investigator Brad Schaffer, who handled the case. “It spider-webbed, but didn’t shatter.”

Since the glass was specially treated, the break only caused a small hole, not large enough for a person to climb through. At no point did Vasquez get out of his cell.

“It’s a secure facility,” Schaffer said, “so obviously everything is industrial-grade.”

Corrections Officer James Bearcroft noticed the broken window on his rounds. Upon further inspection the window was found to be broken from the inside, with glass shards ground into the corner of one of the inmate’s bunk drawers.

No damages had been logged by the previous cell occupant so Vasquez was held responsible and charged with first-degree attempted escape and criminal mischief, both class E felonies.

He had only recently been jailed, entering the facility the end of August on a charge of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, which Schaffer said is still in process.

Inmates commonly break interior windows as a “sign of aggression toward staff,” Schaffer said. He investigates such cases nearly once a month, but said breaking exterior windows carries the escape charges and as a result is quite rare.

“This is the first time I’ve handled something like this in three years,” he said.

Vasquez was arranged in Glen Town Court and returned to the jail without bail. It is not yet clear how much time could be added to Vasquez’s potential term under the new charges.