Prison Chauffeur Lewis D. Richards

Lewis D. Richards

Chauffeur Lewis Richards was struck on the head with a pipe and killed by an inmate that was attempting to escape from the Charlestown State Prison.

Five prisoners were working in the prison's license plate shop when Chauffeur Richards backed a prisoner truck up to the shop. The five prisoners suddenly attacked the prison guards and Chauffeur Richards. Four guards were injured and Chauffeur Richards was killed when he was struck on the head with a pipe.

The prisoners then stole Chauffeur Richards' truck and fled. They drove the truck through the front gate of the prison, where guards shot and killed two of the prisoners and recaptured the other three. It was one of the inmates who was killed who killed Chauffeur Richards. He was 27, a hardened criminal, who had been in and out of prison and reform school since he was 9-years-old.

Chauffeur Richards had served with the Massachusetts Department of Correction for seven years. He was survived by his wife and son.