Ariz. prison escapee climbed basketball hoop

CAMP VERDE, Ariz. - A man who was a known flight risk escaped from a central Arizona jail by hoisting himself atop a basketball hoop, grabbing onto an overhead security fence and pulling it apart.

A report released Monday by the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office says no one was directly supervising the recreation yard when Wade Cole Dickinson escaped July 12. He remains at large.

The report suggests Dickinson's level of physical fitness helped him flee the Camp Verde jail.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound former personal trainer had been awaiting transfer to a state prison after being sentenced to nearly 25 years for fraud, drugs and possession of a firearm.

Dickinson was under increased security during court hearings after jail staff received credible information that he would try to escape. The same level of cautiousness did not occur in housing, Sheriff Scott Mascher said. Dickinson was classified as a medium-security inmate with with access to the recreation yard.

The U.S. Marshals Service recently joined the hunt for him.