A Daring Jailbreak in Prosser
A robbery suspect awaiting trial in Kennewick makes a brazen roof-top escape from the Prosser jail while ostensibly doing his laundry.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Albert Duncan, who was bound over to the Superior court on a charge of robbery by Justice C. Staser on Monday, escaped from the county jail at Prosser at noon today and apparently has made a clean getaway. Duncan was released from his cell that morning to the corridor of the jail, where he said he wished to do some washing. During the noon hour, while things were quiet around the jail and courthouse, he broke a hole through the roof and escaped. Duncan was held under $500 bonds on the charge of having robbed O. Doak, of Wallula, in this city last Saturday night. Duncan, who is a pressman by trade, was a stranger in Kennewick, having recently been employed in the print room of the Kennewick Printing company.
“During the noon hour while things were quiet around the jail and courthouse, he broke a hole through the roof and escaped.”
Jail security has certainly evolved, but the image of a prisoner utilizing a moment of trust—like being allowed to do laundry—to effect a roof-top escape remains a classic piece of regional crime history. While Prosser’s current justice infrastructure is significantly more robust, stories like these remind us that even small-town jails were once the stage for dramatic, cinematic-style breakouts.
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