By Nigel Maxwell

Vehicle inmate stole was not left running: Prison spokesperson

Jan 2, 2019 | 1:33 PM

A correctional vehicle stolen from the Saskatchewan Penitentiary property New Year’s Eve during an inmate’s escape, was not left running and the keys were not in the ignition, according to a staff member at the prison.

Darcy Begrand told paNOW they do not know how Steven Briggs was able to steal the vehicle.

“We have numerous vehicles on the property for maintenance and work purposes, and minimum security inmates have access to those outlying areas during their work day,” he said, adding it is not uncommon for a minimum security inmate to be out of a staff member’s sight. 

Briggs was unaccounted for during Monday’s night’s inmate count, and was last seen Tuesday driving the stolen vehicle in the Yorkton area. RCMP have yet to catch up with him. In Sept. 2015, Briggs was sentenced on several charges including assault and robbery. Begrand said the severity of Briggs’s crimes had no bearing on where he was serving his sentence.

“Minimum security does not always correlate with the severity of their criminal convictions. It’s how they have progressed through their correctional plan to earn a placement at a lower security level,” Begrand said.

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That being said, Begrand said the inmates in the minimum security unit are entrusted to not walk off the property and it is highly unlikely Briggs, once caught, will be returned to unit where he was living.

“When an escaped offender is taken back into custody, they are returned to the nearest federal institution at the appropriate security level, and to be honest that would likely not be minimum,” he said.

In 2018 there were two escapes from the prison.

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell