ALCATRAZ FAMILY SECRETS
THE ESCAPE
A new inmate was introduced to the group—Allen West. He had been assigned the job of general maintenance around the prison.
On one occasion, plumbers had done some work in the utility corridor between B and C block, and West was given the job of cleaning up after them. As he picked up debris he came across some old saw blades left there years before. Realizing the value of his find, he decided to talk with John about an escape plan, whom he had met in prison back in 1952. John was reticent at first about working with West, who had a temper and could be unpredictable, but having access to those saws changed the entire escape equation, and so took a chance on him.
With all the pieces now in place, John laid out his escape plan: they'd smuggle spoons from the kitchen and use them for digging out the grilles in the back of their cells. They would then use the top of the cell block as their staging area. Using raincoats given/stolen from other inmates, the four would make a raft and life vests and paddle their way to a boat mobster, Mickey Cohen, said he'd provide for them, who was also incarcerated at Alcatraz at the time. They’d also make dummy heads and use them to fool the guards while the four worked at night at the staging area.
Clarence's cell after the escape
John's dummy head
The escape route from the cellblock roof
Everything about Sunday, June 11, 1962 started out the same as any other day on the island. The guards did their headcounts and the inmates went about their daily activities. When lights out finally came at 9:30 p.m., John, Clarence and Frank set up their beds with the dummy heads, then slipped out the back of their cells and met at the top of the cellblock. Allen, however, had underestimated the size of his hole, and he couldn’t get out. After several failed attempts to widen his hole, the three were forced to leave West behind and make their escape.
They shimmied down a pole to the bottom, and hopped over a couple of barbed-wire fences. The three made their way to the water's edge and quickly inflated the raft and life vests with the aid of Frank’s converted concertina. They then paddled to the south side of the island, tied a 100' extension cord to the back of a prison transport boat and were pulled into the middle of the bay. According to the FBI report, the three most likely drowned. But an off-duty police officer named Robert Checchi who happened to be at the water's edge the night of the escape saw different--a boat that looked strangely out of place, which a childhood friend by the name of Fred Brizzi would later claim picked them up, perhaps the same boat the FBI report states had been provided by famous mobster, Mickey Cohen.
Then there's the makeshift oar and life vest found in the San Francisco Bay days after the escape. Are they proof the three actually drowned, or is there another explanation?
Fred Brizzi
