Chester County District Attorney News Release – Inmate Charged with Attempted Escape:
The Chester County District Attorney’s Office and the Chester County Detectives announce that Thomas Hackett, 35, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, was charged with Attempted Escape from Chester County Prison after climbing up a fence and through layers of razor wire in a prison yard yesterday. Hacket was incarcerated at the prison after being charged with Indecent Exposure and Open Lewdness on June 12, 2025, by the Phoenixville Police Department. The Defendant’s preliminary arraignment on these charges is set to occur later today.
The criminal complaint (the Defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in this case and his previously charged case) filed by the Chester County Detectives indicates that shortly before 2:30 p.m. on September 3, 2025, a corrections officer noticed that several inmates were pointing and looking towards a section of razor wire at the top of a recreational prison yard. The corrections officer saw that the Defendant was caught in the security razor wire near the roof. The Defendant eventually pushed through the razor wire and onto the roofline. The Defendant then jumped down from the roof. He could not leave the prison property because he was stopped by a corrections officer before reaching the next layer of fencing and barbed wire that runs along the edge of the prison grounds.
The Defendant sustained multiple cuts during the escape attempt and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He returned to Chester County Prison last night. The Chester County Detectives are the lead investigating agency and are working in cooperation with the Chester County Prison staff. Although the Defendant has been charged with a crime, Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances around this incident. If anyone has information about it, they should contact the Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866.
