True story of Tison gang dramatized in new movie
by Mark Cowling | Casa Grande Dispatch
As the 39th anniversary nears of the Tison gang, an independent film version of the group’s escape from Arizona State Prison in Florence and murderous flight across the Southwest is being prepared for a fall release.
Gary Gene Tison, 42, of Casa Grande and Randy Greenawalt, 28, were convicted murderers at the Florence prison in the summer of 1978, and Tison was known for escaping. Yet they were only being held in medium security when Tison’s three sons arrived with sawed-off shotguns and a pistol in a cardboard box on a Sunday morning, July 30.
“After locking the eight guards and six visitors in a broom closet, the five men casually walked out of the prison, climbed into a late model green car and drove away. Although a tower guard noticed them, he thought it was nothing unusual. Road blocks and aerial surveillance failed to catch the men,” the Florence newspaper reported.
