Convicted murderer escapes from corrections center in Titusville

Hopewell Township official decries use of facility to house maximum security prisoners.

By: Ruth Luse
   A convicted murderer escaped Thursday morning from the Mercer County Correction Center in Titusville.
   Terrance Brewer, who last week was found guilty of murder in a Trenton court, was being held in the Mercer County Correction Center on Route 29, Titusville, while awaiting sentencing.
   According to Hopewell Township Public Safety Director Jon Edwards, who also is deputy mayor, Warden Dennis Cunningham learned the inmate was missing at 10 p.m. Thursday. At that point, Mr. Edwards said, Mr. Brewer had been gone about 13 hours.
   Mr. Brewer, a 34-year-old black male, is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes.
   Mr. Edwards believes the convicted murderer also has been convicted of robbery and weapons offenses.
   "It is believed Mr. Brewer is no longer in Hopewell Township," Mr. Edwards said Friday morning. Police had reports that the escapee was seen in Trenton during the day Thursday.
   Mr. Edwards added that Hopewell Township Police learned of the escape at 11:30 p.m. Thursday. The siren at the correction center went off between 1 and 1:30 a.m. Friday. The Community Action Network was notified at 2 a.m. Friday and Mr. Edwards learned of the escape at 8 a.m. Friday.
   Mercer County put the Community Action Network in place in response to the concerns of Hopewell Township officials about security procedures at the maximum security facility. This system, once loaded, calls everyone in the network simultaneously, Mr. Edwards said.
   Mr. Edwards, as he has said repeatedly in the past, commented Friday that this escape is "an excellent example of why maximum security prisoners should not be housed" at the Titusville correction facility.
   Hopewell Township Police officials were not available for comment Friday morning.