(NewsNation) — Police were searching Friday for a 34-year-old man who escaped from a Philadelphia jail, the fourth breakout in the city this year — and fifth for the state.
Gino Hagenkotter, an inmate at Riverside Correctional Facility, was performing supervised work in the orchard behind Philadelphia’s Industrial Correctional Center Thursday afternoon when he asked to use the restroom, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
When he had not returned 15 minutes later, a guard checked the bathroom only to find Hagenkotter wasn’t there, Blanche Carney, commissioner of Philadelphia’s Department of Prisons, said. The guard notified prison officials, so PICC and nearby facilities were locked down.
However, Hagenkotter had already climbed over the jail’s fence by then. He walked to a city sanitation department yard next to the prison and took off his jumpsuit.
A surveillance video shows him walking down the street, Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said.
No one was hurt during Hagenkotter’s escape. While he does not have “a dangerous history,” Vanore said, officials warned Hagenkotter should not be approached. Court records show Hagenkotter has a history of mostly drug and theft offenses.
Hagenkotter was supposed to be released from Riverside Correctional Facility into a transitional program on Thursday, but this transfer was canceled after officials learned he had open retail theft charges in Bucks County.
On Thursday night, various law enforcement agencies were looking for Hagenkotter using dogs and helicopters.
The U.S. Marshals Service in Philadelphia said on X, the former Twitter, that Hagenkotter is 5 foot 6 inches with brown eyes and gray hair.
Those with information on his whereabouts can call 1-866-865-TIPS(8477) or leave a tip at http://usmarshals.gov.
This past May, two men in May escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center by slipping through a gap cut into a chain-link fence. Both were gone for nearly 19 hours before officials realized they were missing. The two men were later recaptured.
Then, in September, a woman briefly escaped PICC by scaling two razor wire-covered fences.
There was another search in Pennsylvania for inmate Danelo Cavalcante, who fled from Chester County prison on Aug. 31 by scaling a wall, climbing over razor wire and jumping from a roof. He was caught after two weeks by Pennsylvania State Police and Border Patrol.
Carney insisted these escapes don’t point to a bigger issue inside the jails. Staffing levels, while challenging for the department, were not a factor in Hagenkotter’s escape, she added, as he was being monitored one-on-one.
“We have correctional officers in place, monitoring individuals, being vigilant, being observant, allowing them to use facilities, and this person took ample opportunity,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.