MONTREAL — In a daring escape that seemed straight out of a movie, two prisoners broke out of the St-Jérôme detention centre Sunday afternoon, fleeing in a helicopter that had been commandeered for the escape.

But freedom was short-lived for the escapees. The Sûreté du Québec said it arrested Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau, 36, and two other men around 7:45 p.m. Sunday in Chertsey, about 50 kilometres from St-Jérôme. They located the second prisoner, Danny Provençal, 33, around 9:15 p.m., also in Chertsey , SQ spokesperson Benôit Richard said.

"We are negotiating with him now," Richard said, adding police were hoping for a peaceful resolution.

Hudon-Barbeau is alleged to have ties to the Hells Angels.

The escape, from the prison about 60 kilometres northwest of Montreal, happened around 2:20 p.m.

A reporter for the LCN television network said he knows the helicopter pilot, who works for a company based in Mont-Tremblant. The pilot had been hired by two people for a tour on Sunday afternoon, said reporter Maxime Landry. Once in the air, one of the people pulled out a weapon, pointed it at the pilot's head and ordered him to fly to the prison.

The pilot tried to notify officials at the flight service station near Mirabel airport that something was amiss, but when the passengers realized what he was doing, they broke his headset, Landry said.

The pilot flew the helicopter to the prison. A rope was lowered from the helicopter to the prisoners on the ground below, Richard said.

About an hour later, police found the helicopter and the pilot near Mont-Tremblant, 85 kilometres north of the prison. The pilot was taken to a hospital and was to meet with investigators, Richard said.

Yves Galarneau, the correctional services manager who oversees the St-Jérôme jail said he'd never seen anything like the dramatic escape in more than three decades on the job.

Galarneau said there are no security measures in place at the jail to prevent a helicopter from swooping down from above.

"As far as I know, it's a first in Quebec," he told reporters at the scene. "It's exceptional."

A man identifying himself as Hudon-Barbeau spoke to the 98.5 FM radio station Sunday afternoon after the escape.

Hudon-Barbeau said he was fed up with prison and was prepared to die.

"The treatment that they're subjecting us to make no sense," Hudon-Barbeau told the radio station.

"I am ready to die. My life is over."

He said he had been shot in the calf, but was not injured.

Hudon-Barbeau was arrested in November and charged with being in possession of a loaded firearm and two charges alleging he violated a court order by being in the company of a known criminal and possessing a weapon. Last year, the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned an attempted murder conviction against Hudon-Barbeau in 2010 after a witness recanted.

Last month, a small riot broke out at the St-Jérôme prison, which holds about 480 prisoners. The head of Quebec's correctional centre guards' union said at the time it had been started by about a dozen inmates in a high-security section of the prison, and pepper spray was used to put the riot down.

Canadian Press contributed to this report

mbeaudin@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @moniquebeaudin