Prison officials probing one-legged convict’s escape

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997 | 1:59 a.m.

Steve Albrecht, 33, who has an artificial leg below the knee, climbed a fence at the medium-security Nevada State Prison in Carson City on Saturday night.

He was found early Sunday hiding in an abandoned house in Hawthorne, about 120 miles south of here. Officers had to tackle him when he tried to flee.

Prison spokesman Glen Whorton declined to comment on reports that Albrecht entered a prison control room, locked up several guards and then walked through open doors before climbing a prison fence.

The inmate then scaled another fence at a nearby sewage treatment plant, where he hot-wired a truck and crashed through a gate.

Albrecht was serving a 10-year sentence for a burglary conviction in Clark County. He now faces additional charges and possible transfer to the state's maximum-security prison in Ely.

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