- Nathaniel Jose Perez, 19, reportedly tried to break into a prison in South Carolina.
- The police arrested and arrested him in the middle of his attempt when he was caught by barbed wire and set off an alarm.
- Perez carried four backpacks with smuggled items for delivery to prisoners.
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A man was arrested on Wednesday for attempting to break into a South Carolina prison, First Coast News reported.
The man, Nathaniel Jose Perez, 19, tried to enter the Tyger River Correctional Institution in Enoree, South Carolina. His goal was to transport smuggled items to incarcerated people detained on the premises, the police said, according to First Coast News .
Perez reportedly set off an alarm that alerted police to his presence, officials said.
“We received an alert at one of our perimeter fences,” said Bryan Stirling, director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections. “There is another fence behind that, and there was a person who was caught on the fence line in the barbed wire with a lot of contraband.”
When the police responded to the alarm, they found that Perez was carrying four backpacks full of smuggled items, such as cell phones, tobacco and alcohol, according to First Coast News.
He was sent to the hospital and then transferred to the custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
“I didn’t see anyone trying to break at the before, “said Stirling.” But it can happen when they cut the fence too quickly, drop the smuggling and leave. “
“Obviously, his plans did not go as he thought when he was caught by the barbed wire,” he added.
First News reported that Perez admitted to the police that he intended to exchange the smuggled items for cash. Perez faces several charges, including trespassing, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and attempting to provide contraband to incarcerated individuals, the report said.
According to First Coast News, the police are aware of the recipients of the contraband materials. These individuals will face disciplinary charges, the media said.
“We removed them from that prison. Being on Tyger River for a prisoner is a privilege. It is not as restrictive as some of our institutions,” said Stirling. “You can get jobs there and things like that, so you can plan your exit from SCDC. But it will be in a much more restrictive environment in a higher-level prison now.”
The South Carolina Department of Corrections did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.