Cummins Prison Break of 1979

Ten inmates escaped from Cummins Prison on the freezing cold night of January 1, 1979, after convicts seized control of the prison’s maximum-security unit. Cummins—located five miles southeast of Grady (Lincoln County)—was the largest of the Arkansas prison farms.

Inmates were watching the Orange Bowl on television in the dayrooms of the East Unit of Cummins on the night of January 1, 1979, while six corrections officers were on duty. At around 9:45 p.m., a prisoner, Ronnie Pucilowsky, asked to be let out of the dayroom to use the restroom. When the door was opened, several inmates rushed out and overpowered the guards. At the same time, inmate John Wiggins convinced guard Earnest Bryant to open the door to the locked control room. Wiggins rushed in, seized a nightstick, and struck Bryant in the head before handcuffing him.

After locking up the corrections officers, the rebellious inmates unlocked cells throughout the unit, but most of the prisoners stayed in their cells—only eighteen of the 107 convicts in the East Unit took part in the takeover. Some of the inmates forced the captive guards to give them their uniforms while others found warm clothing in other parts of the building. Going outside, seven convicts scaled the ten-foot fence on the north side of the compound while three others escaped over the fence on the south side. Several others, including murderer Paul Ruiz, returned to the East Unit after guards in the prison’s watch towers fired several rifle shots.

After learning of the takeover, around a dozen officials, including warden Jerry Campbell and Department of Corrections assistant director Art Lockhart, armed themselves and entered the East Unit, rapidly seizing control and freeing the six guards.

One inmate, Ismet Divanovich, was captured as soon as he got over the fence, and search parties with dogs were soon on the trails of the others on the cold night. Another inmate, Glenn Blaylock, soon surrendered, saying, “Lock me up. Do what you want to do with me. Just get me where it’s warm!” Barney Norton, the ringleader of the escape, was captured soon after.

Three more escapees were captured around 4:30 a.m. on January 2, and three others were found around 8:30 a.m., two of whom were barefoot and suffering from frostbite; one of them would lose several toes. The last remaining convict, Jerome Bargo, was found in the attic of an abandoned farmhouse at around noon.

A subsequent internal investigation found that several of the escapees and rebellious inmates were beaten by corrections personnel after being returned to custody, with many suffering wounds requiring multiple stitches. Several of the guards were reprimanded or reduced in rank, and one captain, Kenny Taylor, resigned after the Board of Corrections voted to fire him.

In the aftermath of the mass escape, the Department of Corrections established a four-week training program for new employees and instituted an internal affairs section within the department. The strands of barbed wire atop the ten-foot fence surrounding Cummins prison were replaced with concertina wire, and a taller perimeter fence was erected around the entire compound to discourage future escape attempts.

For additional information:
“Seven Prisoners Escape Cummins; Guard Is Injured.” Arkansas Gazette, January 2, 1979, p. 1A.

Byers, Dubs. The Paper Plate Escape: The Prison Break that Broke the System. N.p.: 2022.

Dawson, Bill, and Audie Ayers. “Cummins Inmates Caught.” Arkansas Democrat, January 2, 1979, pp. 1A, 10A.

Dawson, Bill, Audie Ayers, and Don Johnson. “Corrections Officials Investigating Escape.” Arkansas Democrat, January 3, 1979, pp. 1A, 20A.

Jordan, Wayne. “Escaped Inmates Captured after All-night Hunt in Cold.” Arkansas Gazette, January 3, 1979, pp. 1A, 4A.

Mark K. Christ
Little Rock, Arkansas