An inmate at the Chester County Prison was quickly apprehended after attempting to escape on Wednesday afternoon, the Chester County District Attorney's Office announced.

Thomas Hackett, 35, of Phoenixville, was charged with attempted escape after climbing up a fence and through layers of razor wire in a prison yard, District Attorney Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe said in a new release on Thursday.

Chester County detectives filed a criminal complaint stating that 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 before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"The corrections officer that saw the Defendant [Hackett] caught in the security razor wire near the roof. The Defendant [Hackett] eventually pushed through the razor wire and onto the roofline," the DA said.

The release continues to say Hackett jumped down from the roof but wasn't able to leave because he was stopped by a correctional officer before reaching the next layer of fencing and barbed wire that is along the edge of the prison.

A spokesperson for the prison said the inmate did not make it off prison grounds.

Hackett was taken to a hospital for treatment after getting many cuts during the attempted escape.

"This is an active criminal investigation led by the Chester County Detectives in full cooperation with the Chester County Prison staff," the release said.

Hackett was at the prison due to charges of indecent exposure and open lewdness on June 15 by the Phoenixville police.

The DA and a spokesperson from the Chester County Commissioners' Office both said that all inmates were accounted for and there is no threat to the community.

"Chester County has been focused on prison security over the last couple of years, and the public should be reassured that this escape attempt was stopped quickly and successfully," the Chester County Commissioners' Office said in a release.

This is the same prison Danelo Cavalcante escaped about two years ago, around September 2023. Cavalcante was captured two weeks later with a national manhunt. In August 2024, he pleaded guilty to charges of escape and burglary and was sentenced to serve 15 to 30 years in addition to his existing life sentence.