Security Upgrades Begin At Chesco Jail Cavalcante Escaped From

WEST CHESTER, PA — Razor wire has been installed around the entire perimeter of the Chester County Prison since the Aug. 31 escape of convicted murderer Danilo Cavalcante, Warden Howard Holland said Wednesday.

Holland also informed the county prison board at its monthly meeting that vendors are coming to the jail to determine where security cameras will be installed.

The focus on prison security followed two inmates escaping from the jail in the last several months. Several months before Calvalcante's escape, inmate Igor Bolte, 30, escaped in May but was captured near the prison.

The warden said there are 43 openings for correctional officers at the jail and advertisements for employees will be placed on billboards in Chester County.

To date, there are 738 inmates in the Pocopson Township jail, an estimated 17 percent over last year’s population. The jail holds inmates waiting for court cases and those who are serving sentences under two years.

Following the escape of Cavalcante, the warden said the staff is updating procedures. Cavalcante escaped from an exercise yard and was able to crabwalk between two walls to get out of jail. An officer who was working in a security tower has been fired. He was captured on Sept. 13 in South Coventry Township with the help of a K-9 named Yoda.

As a start, the warden said, the prison staff is no longer waiting 30 days to get high-level offenders taken to state prison to serve their sentences. He said the high-level inmates are also wearing brightly-colored prison uniforms.

When Calvalcante escaped, his trial was over and he was already sentenced to life in prison for the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, 33, in front of her young children in Schuylkill Township.

The warden said that the sheriff's office transports sentenced prisoners twice a month to state prisons. Cavalcante is in maximum security at the State Correctional Institute at Phoenix, Montgomery County.