Inmates escape prison in copter

SAINT-JEROME, Quebec – Two Quebec inmates climbed up a rope into a hovering helicopter to make a daring daylight escape from a jail northwest of Montreal, authorities said, but both were later recaptured.

Quebec provincial police said today they arrested four people about 30 miles north of the Saint-Jerome jail from which the men escaped on Sunday. Two of those arrested were 36-year-old inmate Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau and 33-year-old inmate Danny Provencal.

Hudon-Barbeau was arrested Sunday and later in the evening police had located Provencal, establishing a security perimeter around a building where he had barricaded himself.

Quebec Provincial Police Sgt. Benoit Richard said early today Provencal had surrendered peacefully.

On Sunday, police received a call from the staff at the Saint-Jerome jail, reporting the escape around 2:20 p.m., Richard said.

The jail’s warden told police that Hudon-Barbeau and Provencal had grabbed a rope dropped from the helicopter to make their getaway, Richard said.

Quebec provincial police tracked down the helicopter used in the escape on Sunday afternoon to Mont-Tremblant, about 53 miles away from the jail but only the chopper’s pilot was still at the scene. He was taken to a local hospital and was treated for shock, Richard said. He called the pilot “an important witness” in the case.