By JP Phillips
Contributing Writer

The constant whirring of circling helicopters.  A line of police and other law enforcement vehicles suddenly whizzing by.  Roads barricaded.  The frequently shifting search “perimeter.” Longwood Gardens and schools closed.  Fields harvested early to eliminate hiding spaces.  Neighbors afraid to get the mail, walk the dog, or—worse yet—return home from vacation or get something from their shed.

Danelo Calvalcante was convicted of first-degree murder for brutally stabbing an ex-girlfriend over and over again in front of her two young children in the Phoenixville area.  He was apprehended in Virginia in April 2021, and sent to Chester County Prison to await trial. He was convicted on August 22, 2023.  He was housed here until August 31, 2023 when he “crab-walked” his way out of the prison and into the national spotlight.  He successfully evaded capture and put real fear into the hearts of Chester County residents for two weeks.  

The search centered on the areas around the prison and Longwood Gardens from August 31 until September 10, when Cavalcante stole a van from Baily’s Dairy, located a couple of miles north of Longwood and just one mile from the prison.  While local residents breathed a small sigh of relief, he drove to the Phoenixville area, stole a gun, and terrorized the northern part of the county until he was spotted by helicopters armed with heat-seeking equipment. The escapee was finally nabbed by a dog named Yoda in South Coventry Township on September 13.

His escape highlighted problems at the prison that had not been fully addressed by either prison leadership or the Prison Board of Inspections.  The 2023 board consisted of Commissioner Josh Maxwell, Commissioner Marian Moskowitz, Commissioner Michelle Kichline, President Judge John Hall, District Attorney Deb Ryan, Sheriff Fredda Maddox, and Controller Margaret Reif.

Three months prior to Cavalcante’s escape, another prisoner named Igor Bolte escaped from the prison using the same “crab-walk” technique.  He was spotted by a guard as he climbed across the roof, and enjoyed only a few minutes of freedom before he was apprehended in a nearby resident’s yard.  The siren to alert residents never sounded. The additional razor wire installed at the top of the walls after Bolte’s escape apparently were not enough to stop Cavalcante.

Only one officer was monitoring the exercise yard when Cavalcante escaped.  The officer did not notice anything, and it was over an hour before Cavalcante was identified as missing. There was a significant delay in notifying residents of the escape via the ReadyChesco alert system.  Cavalcante wandered off prison grounds wearing dark pants, a plain white t-shirt and sneakers—nothing that would associate him with the prison.

Staff vacancies had been a long-term problem.  At the approximate time of Cavalcante’s escape, the Chester County Commissioner’s office reported that 76 of the 301 staff positions were unfilled—with 56 of them being Correctional Officers who supervise and monitor prisoners, respond to emergencies and enforce the rules.  Earlier reports confirm continuing vacancy issues:  In December 2022 there were 67 openings, including 51 correctional officers positions. The earliest board meeting on the chestercounty.gov lists 23 correctional officers and 12 Supervisor vacancies in December 2020.

“About a year ago, this Prison Board began hearing concerns about the Chester County Prison and agreed collectively to take actions on those concerns,” County Commissioner and Prison Board Chair Josh Maxwell said to a large crowd at the September 23, 2023 Prison Board meeting. “One of those actions that the Board took was to bring in a third party to evaluate conditions at the prison and report back to us with their findings.  We followed up, based on these recommendations, to provide training for leadership at the prison, and had a prison expert conduct an on-site, and unannounced, three-day evaluation to see first-hand what was happening in the prison.  The training took place for leadership there in February (2023) and the on-site, three-day evaluation took place in April of this year (2023). In anticipation of the results of the evaluation, the Board decided to hire Howard Holland (the current Warden) to serve as a special advisor to the Prison Board.  Howard started his role in April of 2023.  Howard was tasked with ensuring that, whatever the evaluation found, meaningful change will be taking place.”

Maxwell continued, “In July, recommendations were given from that prison expert.  Those recommendations focused on what they believe to be the root cause of concerns, which was leadership within the prison administration.  Ultimately, corrective actions that were tasked to the previous warden (Ronald Phillips, a 40-year employee) were not satisfactorily undertaken.  The Prison Board asked Howard Holland to take command of the prison for an interim period, and upon the unannounced retirement of the former warden, we appointed Howard Holland as the acting warden just one day before the escape.  

“Above all, the goal of the actions taken by this Board was to improve staff morale, increase staffing levels, improve staff retention rates, and operate a high-performing 21st century correctional facility.”

Part Two of this story will focus on completed and planned actions to improve and secure the Chester County Prison. The story will be published next week in the September 4 edition of the Chester County Press.