Foul Getaway : Inmate’s Escape in Garbage Truck Backfires

A 25-year-old inmate who escaped from prison Thursday by stowing away inside a garbage truck received a jolt when he was compacted into a bale of trash and dumped in a local landfill in front of an oncoming tractor, authorities said.

As the tractor closed in on the trash mound in which prisoner Steven Brigida had been discarded, the tractor driver heard a panic-stricken cry for help. The driver slammed on the brakes and summoned his supervisors.

Brigida was turned over to prison guards and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, who took him to Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center for treatment.

Brigida was in fair condition Thursday but the nature of his injuries could not immediately be determined, said Kenn I. Hicks, a spokesman for the California State Prison in Lancaster. The inmate was serving a sentence of life plus eight years for attempted murder, auto theft and burglary, Hicks said.

Mike Muller, general manager of Waste Management of Lancaster, which operates the dump, said the prisoner is lucky to have survived inside a truck that compresses garbage into a bale four or five times smaller than the original load.

“The load comes out (shaped) like a loaf of bread,” Muller said. “He was fortunate he was in the middle of the load. He was fortunate he wasn’t hurt worse.”

At about noon Thursday, tractor operator Joe Soliz spotted the inmate while breaking up garbage that had just been picked up at the prison, Muller said.

“As (Soliz) was pushing the load over to spread it out, this man popped out in front of him,” Muller said. “He grabbed his ankle and hopped and yelled and then rolled down the pile of trash.

“He was definitely hurt. He alerted us that he was a prisoner. I think his (escape) plan was gone by then.”

Brigida had apparently climbed inside a prison garbage bin that was hoisted above a truck and then dumped into the vehicle, Muller said. Prison guards always escort trash trucks in and out of the facility, but the guards apparently did not see Brigida drop into the vehicle, prison officials said.

“Most people don’t realize what goes into a garbage truck,” Muller said. “I’m not sure what he was thinking when he went in there. I wouldn’t go in there.”

He was dressed in a blue denim prison uniform when he turned up at the landfill, Muller said.

When the landfill reported that an inmate might be at the dump, the prison began an emergency inmate count to determine whether an escape had occurred, prison spokesman Hicks said. The prison remained in a lock-down through Thursday evening, meaning that inmates could only leave their cells for meals.

The prison houses about 4,000 prisoners. Hicks said the staff had launched an investigation to determine how Brigida was able to hide in one of the garbage bins that are stored in a restricted area.

Thursday’s incident was the fourth escape since the Lancaster prison opened last February.

In July two minimum-security prisoners walked away from their barracks but were quickly recaptured.

In October, a high-security prisoner, convicted murderer Eric Rene Johnson, 23, escaped by scaling a block wall and two chain-link fences without being seen by guards. He was recaptured about five hours later outside a market, several miles from the prison.

That incident triggered an outcry from city leaders and community members, who were concerned about the safety of people living near the prison. The escape prompted the city to halt its efforts to have a second state detention center locate in Lancaster.

Johnson’s flight also caused the prison’s administrators to tighten security procedures and to vow that they would notify local sheriff’s deputies and community leaders more promptly if another escape occurred.

Lancaster Assistant City Manager Dennis Davenport, a member of the prison’s advisory committee, said he was notified during the noon hour Thursday regarding the latest escape. He said he was pleased about the prompt notification, but he reserved any comment on the circumstances of the escape.

“We’ll wait to hear what all the facts are before we make any judgments,” Davenport said.