police are dispatched to rescue the president however romero the right-hand man of the duke of new york the top crime boss in the prison warns them that the duke has taken the president hostage and that he will be killed if any further rescue attempts are mounted commissioner bob hauk offers a deal to snake plissken a former special forces soldier convicted of attempting to rob the federal reserve in denver if snake rescues the president and retrieves the cassette tape hauk will arrange a presidential pardon to ensure his compliance hauk has plissken injected with micro-explosives that will rupture snakes carotid arteries within  hours if snake returns with the president and the tape in time hauk will have the explosives neutralized