Escaped inmate promised to return?

MANILA, Philippines - A “trusted” inmate who escaped from the Valenzuela City Jail before dawn Saturday reportedly promised his fellow detainees he would return, a source said yesterday.

A “depressed Prudito Capones Jr. “wanted to check on his young wife over fears that she might leave him,” a police insider, who requested anonymity, said. He added that Capones’ wife is “beautiful” and they have a son.

“Before he left, (Capones) told his inmates that he will be back – but he did not say how,” the source said.

Capones is a “trustee” or an “aide” of Jail Officer 1 Ferdinand Bruzo, according to jail officer-in-charge Superintendent Flory Sanchez.

Another source told The STAR that Capones escaped through the jail’s rooftop at about 2 a.m. “using a key” that was supposedly under Bruzo’s care. He reportedly climbed the stairs connecting the rooftop and fifth floor – where Bruzo was detailed.

From the rooftop, Capones allegedly left the building by climbing down the metal scaffolding that construction workers set up for the renovation of the city jail.

As a trustee or aide, the jail allowed Capones to stay out of his cell until 5 p.m. but Bruzo “allowed him to stay beyond that time,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez temporarily replaced Superintendent Ferdinand Fontillo, the jail warden when Capones’s escape happened.

Sanchez confirmed that Capones escaped through the rooftop but she was silent on the use of the key. She also did not confirm if Bruzo was the jail guard manning the fifth floor at the time of  the escape.

“Everything is still under investigation,” she said in an earlier interview.

Bruzo was placed under the jail’s restrictive custody and is under investigation.

Sanchez added that the jail guard, as of Saturday, has yet to give his side on the issue.

Capones is being tried for motorcycle theft and is also allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade, police said.