Richard Matt

DANNEMORA, N.Y. — Two prisoners from Clinton Correctional Facility, both convicted murderers, escaped overnight and are being sought by police.

State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Capt. Robert LaFountain said that during the 5:30 a.m. bed check, correction officers discovered Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, were not in their cell.

The maximum-security prison immediately went into lockdown, LaFountain said.

State Police and prison personnel conducted a search and found an “external breach” to Bouck Street.

LaFountain didn’t know what type of breach but said the two men “were able to egress from the facility.”

Richard Matt is described as a white male, 6 feet tall, 210 pounds, with receding black hair and hazel eyes. He has tattoos: “Mexico Forever” on his back, a heart on his chest and left shoulder, and a Marine Corps insignia on his right shoulder.

David Sweat is a white male, 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 165 pounds, with receding brown hair and  green eyes. He has tattoos on his left bicep and his right fingers.

Serving life sentences

Matt and Sweat were serving life sentences for crimes committed in New York.

Sweat admitted killing a sheriff’s deputy in Chenango, Broome County, on July 4, 2002. He was 22 years old when he was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Tarsia, who was shot 22 times.

Matt’s conviction stems from the December 1997 robbery, kidnapping, murder and dismemberment of North Tonawanda businessman William Rickerson. He is serving time on a first-degree kidnapping conviction, according to data available from the state inmate database at the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

“Both are considered dangerous,” LaFountain emphasized.

State Police said anyone who sees people meeting those descriptions should not approach them.

Instead, immediately call 911 or the State Police at 518-563-3761.

Anyone in the Dannemora area should contact the State Police if they saw or heard anything early this morning or find that they have a vehicle that is unaccounted for.

Massive search is underway

Police agencies all across the North Country are on alert, with heavy police presence in the Dannemora area. That includes K-9 units, aviation, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Special Operations Response Team (its version of a SWAT group), the Forensic Identification Unit and uniformed police.

“Our main focus is on apprehending these two,” Fleishman said.

One of the roadblocks is set up at the intersection of Route 374 and Rand Hill Road. Officers there, wearing bulletproof vests, were stopping each car, asking questions and having drivers pop open the trunks to search inside. Some State Police officers are carrying rifles.

Helicopters were circling overhead in areas of Clinton and Essex counties, and prison vans could be seen patrolling the roads.

Escapes from the prison in Dannemora are extremely rare. One did take place in the summer of 1939. Herbert Irving, an insane convict, escaped from the New York State Hospital at Dannemora. He was apprehended by sheriff’s deputies on the outskirts of Plattsburgh.

This article appeared in the Plattsburgh Press-Republican and will be updated as the story develops.