Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

One of the two men who escaped from a Philly jail was arrested Thursday night, authorities say

Nasir Grant, 24, was taken into custody after a car stop on the 2800 block of W. Dauphin Street, the U.S. Marshals said.

U.S. Marshals arrest Nasir Grant, 24, on Thursday. Grant escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on Sunday.
U.S. Marshals arrest Nasir Grant, 24, on Thursday. Grant escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on Sunday.Read moreCourtesy of the U.S. Marshals

One of two men who escaped Sunday from a Philadelphia jail was arrested in North Philadelphia on Thursday night, the U.S. Marshals said.

Nasir Grant, 24, who had been jailed on gun and drug charges before he broke out, was taken into custody again during a car stop on the 2800 block of West Dauphin Street, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark.

Grant and Ameen Hurst, 18, who is accused of committing four homicides, escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center around 8:30 p.m. Sunday by climbing through a hole in an outdoor fence, officials said. They then managed to scale at least two more fences before leaving the prison grounds.

Clark said Grant was in the passenger seat when Marshals on Thursday night stopped a car they believed he’d been traveling in. Clark declined to offer details about who else may have been in the car.

Hurst remains on the lam. Authorities have said they believe he called a 21-year-old woman, Xianni Stallings, hours before Sunday’s escape to coordinate a ride from jail. Stallings was charged Thursday with crimes including conspiracy and hindering apprehension.

The disappearance of Grant and Hurst went unnoticed by prison staff for nearly 19 hours, despite the fact that Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney said three body counts were performed during that time.

» READ MORE: A 21-year-old woman helped set up the Philly jailbreak and has been charged, police say

Union and jail officials said multiple system failures contributed to the incident and its lack of detection, including a temporary staff shortage.

David Robinson, president of Local 159 of AFSCME District Council 33, which represents correctional officers, said the unit from which the two men escaped was effectively unstaffed during the breakout, and that two other critical posts — the armed perimeter patrol, and an armed post near State Road at the gate to the back road, known as Post 13 — had been unstaffed for months.

Carney denied that any section of the prison was completely unstaffed. But she said how and where employees were at the time of the escape was part of the prison’s investigation.

The escape occurred less than a week after the correctional officers’ union entered a vote of no confidence in Carney’s leadership. They said she had failed to adequately respond to a staffing crisis that has risen to more than 800 vacancies, or 40% short of a full complement.

Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center is part of a jail complex that houses about 4,300 people on State Road in Northeast Philadelphia. The jails have been subject to a monitor appointed by a federal judge since last year, in response to a class-action lawsuit alleging inhumane and unconstitutional prison conditions.