He stayed alive long enough to be organized into the 20-member prison group attempting to escape in October 1998, and was tasked with stealing the guards' keyes. He succeeded in taking the keys and released his fellow prisoners, but they were caught by the prison guards. The commander of the Umbrella facilities on the island, Vincent Goldman, shot each escapee personally and had the local police chief file a false report to Umbrella, claiming that the prisoners died in a mass-suicide. In protest, local people began collecting evidence on Goldman's crimes in order to report him to Umbrella and be rid of him once and for all.