Details of inmate’s escape emerge
Police seek Tilghman, who used makeshift rope to flee through ventilation shaft
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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Police continued Monday to look for a Blair County Prison inmate who escaped Sunday by accessing a ventilation shaft and using a homemade rope of prison clothing to get access to an unsecured window and roof.
Isaiah Robert Tilghman, 33, who has been in the county prison since May 2 when arrested on felony drug charges, was unaccounted for as of early Sunday afternoon, then publicly identified as an escaped inmate.
Police continue to encourage anyone who sees Tilghman to contact 911.
He is described as a 5-foot-10 black male, 160 pounds, black hair, brown eyes and a beard.
In an affidavit to support Tilghman's newest felony charges of escape and flight to avoid apprehension, Hollidaysburg Borough police said they learned from prison personnel that Tilghman wasn't present for a 12:15 p.m. Sunday inmate count. But he was part of a 7:15 a.m. Sunday count, according to information provided to police.
Further investigation revealed that Tilghman crawled into an access panel outside his cell door and entered a vertical ventilation shaft. By using a homemade rope of prison clothing, police said was able to climb the shaft to a nearby platform, giving him access to an unsecured window and the prison's roof.
"It is unknown at this time which direction Tilghman fled after gaining access to the roof," police reported in the affidavit.
Besides the felony offenses in connection with this escape, Hollidaysburg police are also charging him with misdemeanor offenses of possessing an instrument of crime and institutional vandalism.
A piece of a nail clipper was found about 10 feet from the window he went through, police said.
Prison Warden Abbie Tate declined Monday to offer an update on the ongoing investigation. The prison has posted online notices indicating that the facility is locked down and visits with inmates have been halted.
Tilghman, when arrested in May on the drug-trafficking offenses, was identified with addresses in State College and Philadelphia. Charges indicate that he had a bag at the Altoona Grand Hotel containing drugs valued at more than $100,000, including 3,150 individual packets of fentanyl, methamphetamine, crack cocaine, powdered cocaine and $6,000 in cash. Bail on those charges was set at $500,000 cash.
Also at the time of the May arrest, police said Tilghman was wanted on arrest warrants issued in Centre County.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.