Inmate's road to freedom: A basketball hoop

Here's one prisoner's ticket to freedom: A basketball hoop.

That's right. The sporting equipment was a physically-fit felon's escape tool of choice.

 He scaled a three-metre-tall basketball hoop in the yard of a detention facility in Arizona, then jumped from it onto a fence, authorities said on Monday.

Wade Cole Dickinson, 28, remains at large more than two weeks after fleeing from the Yavapai County Detention Facility.

Plenty of agile moves

Here's what investigators said he did on July 12: First, he climbed the 3-meter-tall hoop, then leapt to the fence. From there, he pulled apart a seam in the fencing, reached the center's roof and scaled another fence.

Dickinson, who listed his occupation as a personal trainer, was awaiting transfer to prison after being sentenced to 24 years on charges including fraud, trafficking in stolen property, drug possession and illegal possession of a firearm.

The report by the sheriff's office found that officials at the detention center knew he was an escape risk, but no one was watching him in the yard when he made his getaway.

A video camera monitoring the area had been broken, apparently with a basketball, prior to the escape, it said.

A US$5,000 (S$6,215) reward has been posted for information leading to Dickinson's arrest.

- Reuters