 On August 19, 1970, between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., after serving over 7 years and 6 months of his sentence, Wright joined three inmates and "just walked out" between bed checks
from a state prison farm at Leesburg State Prison, now known as the Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey.Wright escaped with his future hijacking accomplice, George Brown, who was serving a three to five-year sentence for a 1968 armed robbery conviction.Allegedly they stole the prison warden's car to get away.