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{{Merge to |June 1962 Alcatraz escape |discuss=Talk:June 1962 Alcatraz escape#Merge discussion |date=February 2016}}
#REDIRECT [[June 1962 Alcatraz escape attempt]]
{{Refimprove|date=April 2008}}
{{Infobox criminal
| subject_name = Allen West
| image_name = AllenWest Mythbusters.png
| image_caption =
| birth_date ={{Birth date|1929|3|25}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], [[New York]], [[United States]]
| birth_name =Allen Clayton West
| death_date={{Dda|1978|12|21|1929|3|25}}
| death_place=[[Gainesville, Florida]], United States
| burial_place = Unknown
| charge = [[Carjacking]], attempted escape from prison
| status = Deceased


{{Redirect category shell|
'''Allen Clayton West''' (March 25, 1929 – December 21, 1978) was a convicted criminal. He is known as one of the conspirators, involved in planning and preparing for the [[June 1962 Alcatraz escape]], although did not participate in the escape.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Allen (prisoner)}}
==Biography==

=== Alcatraz ===
West was born in New York City in 1929.<ref>[http://search.ancestry.ca/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=USPenAlcatrazCA&rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-d&gsfn=Allen&gsln=West&uidh=ah6&pcat=36&fh=0&h=1130&recoff=8+10+48+61]</ref> He was sent to the [[United States Penitentiary, Atlanta|Atlanta Pententiary]] (where he first met [[Frank Morris (prisoner)|Frank Morris]] and [[John Anglin|John]] and [[Clarence Anglin]]) and [[Florida State Prison]] for Carjacking as a car thief. He was sent to [[Alcatraz]] in 1957, charged with attempting escape, and became prisoner AZ1335. Morris and the Anglin brothers were sent to [[Alcatraz]] in 1960 and 1961, and by September 1961, the four were planning their escape. West<ref>{{cite web|publisher=National Geographic Channel|title= Alcatraz: Living Hell|accessdate=3 July 2012|url=http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/av-7729-7975/ngc-alcatraz-living-hell/|work=video.nationalgeographic.co.in}}</ref> was the only conspirator who did not participate in the actual escape, as he was unable to finish removing the ventilator grill in his cell in time.<ref>http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/alcesc2.htm The Great Escape from Alcatraz</ref>

By the time West opened his ventilator grill, the others were gone and had taken the life raft with them. The only thing left behind was a small life raft, an oar made by the prisoners and a life jacket to help Allen West escape as they had left without him. As it was in the night and it was difficult to see, Allen did not find the items that were hidden, so instead he sat on the roof of the cells until dawn and eventually made his way back to his cell. In the morning after the breakout the items left on the roof of the cells were found by the guards. After the escape was discovered he gave several interviews to the [[FBI]] and prison authorities, during which he provided full details of the escape plan, possibly as some [[plea bargaining]] strategy. West was never charged for trying to escape from Alcatraz. Morris and the Anglin brothers were never seen again and their ultimate fate remains unknown.

=== Later life ===
West left Alcatraz on February 18, 1963, then was transferred to [[McNeil Island, Washington]] and later [[Atlanta, Georgia]].
<ref name="Babyak">{{cite book |title=Breaking the Rock: The Great Escape from Alcatraz |last=Babyak |first=Jolene |year= 2001 |isbn=0-9618752-3-2}}</ref> After his release from [[United States Penitentiary, Atlanta|federal prison]] on January 7, 1965, West was sent to serve prison sentences in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and [[Florida]].<ref name="Babyak"/> He was released in 1967, but was later arrested in Florida on charges of [[grand larceny]], [[robbery]] and attempted escape.<ref name="Babyak"/> Receiving multiple sentences, including [[life imprisonment]], West was sent to Florida state prison in January 1969.<ref name="Babyak"/> On October 30, 1972, he fatally [[stabbed]] another prisoner in what may have been a racially motivated incident.<ref name="Babyak"/> In December 1978, suffering severe [[Abdomen|abdominal]] pains, West was sent to the [[Shands at the University of Florida|Shands Teaching Hospital]], where he died of acute [[peritonitis]] on December 21, 1978, at the age of 49.<ref name="Babyak"/>

== Popular culture ==
{{main|Escape from Alcatraz (book)|Escape from Alcatraz (film)}}
In 1963, J. Campbell Bruce published his book ''[[Escape from Alcatraz (book)|Escape from Alcatraz]]'' about escapes from Alcatraz Island, including that of Morris and the Anglin brothers.<ref>{{cite book |title=Escape from Alcatraz |last=Bruce |first=Campbell J. |year= 1963 |isbn=1-58008-678-0}}</ref> The 1979 film ''[[Escape from Alcatraz (film)|Escape from Alcatraz]]'' starred [[Clint Eastwood]] as Frank Morris; [[Fred Ward]] and Jack Thibeau as John Anglin and Clarence Anglin respectively. Allen West was played by [[Larry Hankin]]; his character's name was changed to Charley Butts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079116/ |title=Escape from Alcatraz (1979) |accessdate=2008-12-07 |publisher=[[Internet Movie Database]]| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20081218145903/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079116/| archivedate= 18 December 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of Alcatraz escape attempts]]
* [[Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/alcesc1.htm The Great Alcatraz Escape]

{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Allen}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:American robbers]]
[[Category:20th-century American criminals]]
[[Category:People from New York City]]
[[Category:Inmates of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary]]
[[Category:Inmates of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary]]
[[Category:Deaths from peritonitis]]
[[Category:American male criminals]]

Latest revision as of 23:58, 10 October 2024