Deja Vu All Over Again
A career criminal in France is on the loose, armed and dangerous, after a spectacular prison break involving four henchmen and a stolen helicopter. The accomplices hijacked the helicopter at gunpoint and had the pilot fly it to the maximum security prison where Pascal "Kalashnikov Pat" Payet was incarcerated. They then forced their way into the prison, freed Payet and escaped in the waiting chopper. However, this is not unusual.
This is the second time Payet has escaped prison in a helicopter. And he's helped others break out the same way.
A convicted killer known as 'Kalashnikov Pat' was on the run last night after staging a spectacular prison break involving a helicopter and four armed accomplices.
It is the second time that Pascal Payet, 43, has got out of a high-security jail using a chopper in the past six years.
On Saturday evening a single engine Squirrel, made by Eurocopter, was hijacked in the glamorous seaside resort of Cannes, in the south of France, by the four masked men.
Half-an-hour later it landed on the roof of the state penitentiary in nearby Grasse, with three of the gang jumping out and threatening guards with machine pistols and sawn-off shotguns.
The men, who appeared to know exactly where they were going, forced their way through a number of doors, before emerging back on the roof.
Payet, serving 30 years for a variety of offences including murder and armed robbery, was bundled into the helicopter before it took off again.
At around 7.30pm it touched down at a heliport next to a hospital in the inland town of Brignoles, 25 miles inland from the port of Toulon.
The French authorities are mounting a huge manhunt for the escapee and his gang. Which is probably a good idea - the last time Payet was out of prison following a helicopter escape, he organized another jailbreak for some friends - using a helicopter. All told there have been at least a dozen jailbreaks in France using helicopters. French authorities appear to be very slow learners. By the way, "Kalashnikov Pat" got his nickname by shooting a security guard to death with an AK-47 during a robbery. So this guy is not Robin Hood. He does appear to be running a thriving helicopter excursion business, however.
Crime, World news | Gaius Monday, 16 July , 2007
By Sylvia, Monday, 16 July , 2007 @ 11:12 am
Do they not have the death penalty???!