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Nasir Grant, 24, and Ameen Hurst, 18, escaped the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on Sunday, May 7, 2023. While Grant was rearrested on Thursday night, Hurst is yet to be located. It was stated that when the two escaped, there were no corrections officers solely watching over their units. No on-duty armed perimeter guards were allegedly present to block them when Nasir Grant and Ameen cut through the exterior fence.
The incident took place at around 8.30 pm on Sunday. However, one of the escapees, Nasir Grant was captured by US Marshals in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood in Philadelphia on Thursday, May 11, 2023.
The other escapee, 18-year-old Ameen Hurst has been described as being “dangerous.” Philadelphia Police Department Deputy Commissioner of Investigations, Frank Vanore confirmed that Hurst was held in on charges related to four homicides.
Nasir Grant was captured by US Marshals in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood on Thursday
Two inmates from a prison in Philadelphia managed to escape on Sunday, May 7, 2023, at around 8:30 pm local time. The two escapees were identified as Ameen Hurst and Nasir Grant. After an extensive search for the two, Nasir Grant was found on Thursday near 28th and Dauphin streets in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood by the US Marshals.
Authorities confirmed that Nasir was dressed as a woman when they caught him at around 10:25 pm local time. US Marshals Supervisory Deputy Marshal Robert Clark stated that Nasir Grant was wearing a “full female Muslim garb and a head covering,” Clark added that Grant got into a vehicle after coming out of a house. He also noted that they followed the vehicle to the 2800 block of West Dauphin Street where they conducted a felony vehicle stop.
Nasir Grant was initially taken into custody on gun and drug charges. He was arrested in September and faced several charges including six counts of illegal gun possession, receiving stolen property, and conspiracy. Grant’s jury trial was scheduled for January 2024, and his bail was set at $500,000.
Ameen Hurst, the other inmate who escaped prison along with Nasir Grant is yet to be taken into custody. He was arrested at the age of 16, in April 2021, and faced charges related to four homicides in shootings between December 2020 and March 2021. He later was also facing robbery charges and was held without bail.
Philadelphia Police Department Deputy Commissioner of Investigations, Frank Vanore called Hurst a very dangerous person. He said that they were looking for help from the public to get Hurst back into custody.
According to jail officials, the two inmates escaped by taking advantage of several system failures at the Philadelphia prison. They revealed that it took almost an entire day to even figure out that Nasir Grant and Ameen Hurst were missing. According to Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney, Hurst and Grant’s unit was unsupervised the day they escaped.
After a thorough investigation, law enforcement officials discovered that there was another individual who possibly assisted the escape. They identified the suspect as 21-year-old Xianni Stalling. They arrested Stalling and accused her of four felony charges including criminal conspiracy, escape, criminal use of a communication facility, and hindering apprehension. Her bail is currently set at $500,000.
Jail officials reveal that there is a severe staffing shortage making it difficult to execute the regular function of the establishments
David Robinson, the head of the union representing the correction officers at PICC, spoke about Xianni Stalling’s connection with Nasir Grant and Ameen Hurst. Robinson said that there was a possibility that if the three inmates didn't know each other on the street, they wouldn't have met each other if they weren't in the same side of the jail.
According to Philadelphia police, they found evidence of communication between Ameen Hurst and Xianni Stalling and believe that she helped the two inmates escape. According to Blanche Carney, they are working tirelessly to get the two inmates in custody which was the focus of their investigation.
Carney added that going through the process, they have protocols that weren't followed, which will be a part of their investigation.
According to protocols, two officers had to be assigned to each unit. However, due to staffing shortages in the prison, only one officer had to be assigned to each unit. David Robinson further said that he has been discussing the staffing and safety issues for years but it was "seemingly being ignored." He noted that he had predicted that this would happen and wondered if people would listen to him now that "something has happened." He added:
“Of course, I'm not saying that the commissioner took a key and let them out, but vital posts were cut that could have prevented this.”
Noah Barth, the prison monitoring director for the Pennsylvania Prison Society, also seconded the lack of staff and the dangers related to it. Berth said that the vacancies have put a lot of pressure on the officers and also on the day-to-day functioning of the jail.
Authorities are doing their best to look for Ameen Hurst, and have also requested the public to provide any possible assistance.
