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He wiggled himself free Saturday from a regulation straitjacket and out of an 8-foot-by-10-foot solitary cell in 3 minutes, 10 seconds.
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Escape artist Anthony Martin of Sheboygan, Wis. is put into a straight jacket by friend Jeff Hansen before escaping from it and a jail cell Saturday at the old Vernon County Jail in Viroqua.
PETER THOMSON photo
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And like any great escapist or magician, he won’t reveal how.
“The wrong people can learn from that,” said Vernon County sheriff’s Deputy John Spears.
The Wisconsin-based escape artist’s jail break was staged to promote Vernon County Crime Stoppers. Established in 1987, the program offers up to $1,000 cash rewards to people who provide information that leads to an arrest. Callers do not need to identify themselves.
“The beauty of Crime Stoppers is that it protects their anonymity,” Martin said.
He has escaped from about 12 other Wisconsin and Illinois jails and called the difficulty of Saturday’s escape equivalent to the other jails.
An escape is about understanding the locks, most of which Martin has mastered.
“It’s rare I come into a jail and haven’t seen the lock before,” he said.
Martin was not allowed a test run and checked for keys and other instruments before his escape.
There were two actual escapes in the jail’s 97 years. In 1973, an inmate fled out the front door when a maintenance worker left the main gate open, said sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jim Hanson. The man was caught about a block away.
A gate wasn’t shut properly in 1985 when two inmates took off from their cell, ran out through the basement and stole a car. A high-speed chase ended in Readstown, and the inmates were hauled back to jail.
The $23,000 jail opened in 1909 as the county’s third jail since 1851, Hanson said. The three-story building had a capacity for 23 inmates and was used until 2006, when the county’s new sheriff’s department and detention center was built.
Martin, 42, of Sheboygan, Wis., approached the sheriff’s department about idea of an escape to draw attention to Crime Stoppers. He was 13 years old when he broke out of his first jail.
CRIME STOPPERS
If you have information about a crime, call the Vernon County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-657-6868. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a $1,000 cash reward if information leads to an arrest.
