‘Shawshank Redemption’-Inspired Escape Has Two Real Cons On The Run

You often hear of a real-life prison escape compared to a movie plot. But this one appeared to be inspired by an actual film and was carried out by the book – one penned by Stephen King. It happened on Saturday at the high-security wing of the Union County Jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Two men, both of whom are considered dangerous, used pictures of bikini-clad women to cover up holes they made in their cells and then painstakingly squeezed through them before sunrise, winding up on a rooftop of the complex. They somehow scaled a 25-foot high razor wire fence and leapt to safety, and neither has been seen since.

If all this sounds vaguely familiar it’s because you’ve seen it before. It was part of the plot in the 1994 film “The Shawshank Redemption”, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. In that movie, Robbins’ character uses pin-ups of a bikini-clad Raquel Welch to hide the fact he’s digging a tunnel out of the jail from authorities.

But the two wanted men are hardly like the affable Robbins. Twenty-year-old Jose Espinoza (pictured at left) was awaiting sentencing for manslaughter in a drive-by shooting. His partner in the escape, 32-year-old Otis Blunt (seen at right), had been charged with robbery and shooting a convenience store manager. Both have been on the run since Saturday and police have no idea where they are now.

How did they make the holes they used to get out? Officials found a thick metal wire, like the one used to bind chain link fences to poles, that was employed to carve out the cinderblock walls. They also used a 10-pound steel shut-off wheel to crush the pieces of the wall so they could be hidden in their cells without being detected.

And true to movie cliché, the men used pillows and sheets under the covers of their bunks to make it look like they were sleeping. In addition to the tools, investigators are looking into overall security at the institution. Rules are supposed to prevent inmates from pinning up pictures from magazines on their cell walls.

And then there’s the issue of whether they did it alone. The men left a note behind thanking a guard for his “help” in making it possible. “Thank you Officer … for the tools needed,” it read, with the name being left out by authorities. “You’re a real pal. Happy holidays.” Officials have been unable to confirm that any guard aided the escape but they’re checking the person named in the hastily written communication.

It’s not clear when this plot was hatched but jail spokesmen believe it all took place quickly. Both men had only been in their respective cells for a few weeks.

It was the first break-out from the New Jersey prison since 1986.