Murderer cinematically escapes Russian prison
March 22, 2012
Sometimes the line between reality and fiction is easily blurred, and a story that seems straight out of a suspense novel recently took place in Russia. The Moscow Times reports that a prisoner escaped from a Russian penal colony and hijacked a helicopter. Just like in the movies, the bad guys were foiled by the authorities a few short hours after the breakout.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was not there to yell, "get to the chopper," but that is exactly what Alexei Shestakov managed to do with the help of two associates on the outside. These individuals climbed aboard a private helicopter and once it was in the air, they took out guns and demanded the pilot hover over a prison near Vologda, about 200 miles north of Moscow, according to The Associated Press.
Once there, the men on the helicopter lowered a rope ladder for Shestakov and the group flew to safety. Once they landed, the three escape artists scattered. The murderer, who was 12 years into a 24-year sentence, hijacked a taxi, but authorities caught him at a roadblock and sent him back to prison. His constituents remain at large, leaving the perfect opening for a sequel to this real-life action movie.
Those who want to find out what will become of Shestakov and his partners in crime can make calls to Russia to get the latest updates from their friends.