# Police thwart alleged prison escape



## dh18 (Mar 4, 2003)

*Police thwart alleged prison escape*

_By TAMARA RACE
The Patriot Ledger_

PLYMOUTH - Environmental Police interrupted a prison escape in Myles Standish State Forest and charged a Norton woman with aiding and abetting a felon.

Officers Matthew Bass and Robert Akin were on routine patrol about 7 p.m. Wednesday when they saw a black sedan turn onto Lower College Pond Road from Alden Road without signaling. The pair followed the car and pulled the driver over after she turned on a directional signal without turning.

The officers approached the vehicle and saw a man lying on the back seat.

Police identified the driver as Iris E. Romero, 25, of 14 Norton Glen Road, Norton, and her passenger as Edward Vasquez, 25.

Computer records showed that Vasquez was in the custody of the Department of Correction at MCI-Plymouth.

Romero told police she had picked up Vasquez on the main road to the prison a short time earlier.

In the car was a grocery bag with 10 packs of Newport Light cigarettes, 10 packs of Marlboro Red cigarettes, four alcoholic drinks, and a large bundle of red and white pills that Romero said were vitamins for bodybuilding.

Department of Correction spokeswoman Diane Wiffin said officials are investigating how Vasquez was able to escape from the minimum security prison.

She said Vasquez was last seen by correction officers at about 6:40 p.m. Wednesday.

''He was a walkaway and was apprehended within half an hour,'' Wiffin said. ''He's been placed in higher custody.''

Vasquez is serving a seven-year sentence for armed robbery and a gun law violation, Wiffin said. The sentence took effect in 2002, and Vasquez would have been eligible for parole in May 2009, she said.

The Department of Correction is pursuing criminal charges against Vasquez through the district attorney's office, she said.

Romero pleaded innocent Thursday in Plymouth District Court to charges of aiding a felon in escape, delivering alcohol to a prisoner, delivering drugs to a prisoner, and delivering articles to a prisoner. She was released on her promise to return to court March 15.

Copyright 2006 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Saturday, February 04, 2006


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## MVS (Jul 2, 2003)

> Vasquez is serving a seven-year sentence for armed robbery and a gun law violation, Wiffin said. The sentence took effect in 2002, and Vasquez would have been eligible for parole in May 2009, she said.


Minimum Security? For aremed robbery? Wow. And they call it a walk away, what kind of guarding is that?


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