American inmate escapes Bali prison by cutting hole in roof: officials

Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A U.S. citizen awaiting sentencing in Indonesia on drug charges escaped from prison Monday, officials said.

Officials said inmate Crishan Beasley escaped from the notorious Keroboka prison in Bali by cutting a hole in a roof with a hacksaw, then climbing over the prison wall using a ladder from a construction project within the prison.

Another American inmate, Paul Anthony Hoffman, 57, joined Beasley in the escape but was quickly recaptured, Keroboka prison guard Tony Mainggolan told the Jakarta Post. He was serving a 20-month sentence for robbery.

Beasley, 32, was arrested in August for possession of hashish. Indonesia has severe penalties for drug possession and frequently arrests foreigners on drug possession charges.

Two members of a group of Australian inmates, known as the "Bali Nine," were executed for drug offenses in 2015. Several of the others are incarcerated in Keroboka.

The prison was the site of a jailbreak in June, when four inmates tunneled their way out.