The times., 1899-07-03
TWIN MURDERERS ESCAPE Il
a Remarkable jail Delivery Excites
New York Police.

New York, July 2.-Sarenlo and Nicola
Tooci. twin brothers, were locked up cary
last evening in the West Forty-seventh
Street police station on a charge of mur-
der Early this morning they arose, re-
moved their cell door from its hinges. and
walked away After the famous exodus
from Ludlow Street Jail in Sheriff Tam
sens day this is probably the most re-
markable escape from prison in the history
OF this city.
Nicola was arrested at 2:S0 o'clock in
the morning, probably about an hour and
a half after his escape. in Central Park,
as a suspicious person, and locked up in
the park substation. Later he was taken
over to Harlem Police Court. In the
mean time the general alarm for the two
escaped murderers had been sent out, and
the identity of the prisoner was estab-
lished.
The escape had not been discovered at
the West Forty-seventh Street station
until 6:15. At that time the ooorman,
Sharp who was responsible for the safe
keeping of the prisoners, not knowing then
that one of them had been recaptured four
hours before reported 10 Sergeant Town
send that both of the prisoners had bsea
in their cell up to 6 O'Clock, fifteen min
utes before when he had made his last
round. They must have escaped" the
doorman said, in the fifteen minutes in
which | was in the station while the dog
watch was being turned out
The Toccis were originally locked up
early last night for assaulting Christopher
Herman, seventeen years old. at Tenth
Avenue and Forty-eighth Street Nothing
was known of the nature of Kiernan's in
juries by the police until an hour later,
when word was received that the boy was
dying. Then the prisoner was hurried up
TO his bedside to be identified. but he died
just as he get there. The Tocci twins were
then taken back to the police station. Har-
ing blundered once by falling TO ascertain
if Kiernan was seriously hurt until it was
too late, the police committed a second
blunder by putting the two prisoners in the
same cell, contrary to regulations. The
Tocci twins did the rest. The cells of the
station are in a two-story building back
of the main building.
IL was in a cell on the second floor that
they were confined. This floor was used
for Vagrant dodgers until two and half
years ago, when stationhouse lodgings
were abolished. When the cells were con-
siructed at that time they were supposed
TO be up TO date. The iron doors, how
ever, are fastened by heavy iron bars.
The iron catch, in which the end OF the
bar rests when one of the cell doors is
locked, is an inch deep. By raising the
door on its hinges a hairs breadth more
than an inch the efficacy of the lock is
overcome and the door swings open. The
hinges themselves are of the simplest pat
tern and can be lifted apart. There is a
space CT an inch and a half at the top of
the door, so that anybody who can lift 20s
pounds. the weight OF the door, trifie
over an inch can get out Of any of the
cells as easily as If he had the key. There
are scores Of cell doors like these in the
City. but the Toeci brothers have been the
! first to discover the trick of raising them
After getting out of their cell it was
plain sailing for the twins. because the
iron door between the corridor on the sec
ond floor and the outside stairs was wide
open. 1t had been for year and half.
because the lock had been broken. The
, fugitives went to the yard, where they
found a ladder. With that they scaled a
twenty foot stone wall. which separates
the station court yard from the back yards
/ of the adjoining houses. From the ad-
joining yard they escaped by going through
the basement of house.
/ Forty men from the West Forty-seventh
Street station alone were sent out in plain
clothes in the next few hours TO hunt for
the fugitiyes and other searchers were sen,
from headquarters and other precincts.