Posted on 11/19/2008 12:47:37 PM PST by Slings and Arrows
BLOOMFIELD — With nothing but time on their hands, three men and three women lodged at the Greene County Jail apparently figured out how to travel from one jail cell to another through the ceiling and engaged in late-night card games, drinking and sex while the rest of the prisoners slept.
All six have been charged with escape, a felony, for leaving their cell blocks without permission or knowledge of the jail staff. Bond in each case was set at $10,000.
An Oct. 8 search of cell block F1, which houses women, and F2, where men are incarcerated, revealed letters that “indicated inmates housed in F1 and F2 were getting through the ceiling area, and making contact with each other,” Greene County Sheriff’s Department Detective George Dallaire wrote in a sworn statement alleging the crime of escape. “This contact appears to include sexual activity.”
According to the document, the visits went on for weeks during September and October. A female inmate who was not involved said she awoke one night early in September to find two of her cell mates using a metal shower drain cover to pry ceiling tiles loose. She said the women would place a plastic laundry hamper on one of the bunks, outside the range of surveillance cameras, and would hoist themselves up into the ceiling, then drop down into the men’s area.
Dallaire said the men, too, traveled the same route to visit the women. One man incarcerated at the jail, who was not involved, told Dallaire the three women appeared in the men’s cell block through the ceiling at least 15 times while he was in custody.
The search of the men’s cell block turned up what Dallaire called several bottles of “hooch,” a term for illegally obtained and low-grade alcoholic beverages. Dallaire did not specify the exact kind of hooch and the amount confiscated.
Charged with being involved in the clandestine jailhouse activity are:
• William N. Hutcherson Jr., 44, Bloomfield, jailed on a probation violation.
• Jesse B. Ross, 38, Linton, jailed for possession of a controlled substance.
• Alexander Rathburn, 17, a Bloomfield juvenile being charged as an adult with burglary, theft and possession of stolen property.
• Misty M. Moore, 21, Bloomfield, jailed for theft, possession of stolen property and forgery.
• Kay C. Snyder, 27, Springville, jailed for criminal recklessness and battery with bodily injury.
• Nicole Haldeman, 26, Linton, jailed for possession of a controlled substance.
The jail was built in 1994 to replace an aging and dilapidated 22-bed facility on Spring Street. Sheriffs through the years have had concerns about construction and security issues, a reality the current sheriff, Terry Pierce, recognizes. He intends to seek funding from the county council to help make the jail more secure.
The Bloomfield Daily World newspaper reported that the sheriff was glad the inmates were not able to gain access outside the jail. “We’re going to have to find a way to have a better security system,” he said.
Pierce did not return a call from The Herald Times on Tuesday.
According to the affidavit, the inmates would wait until after midnight when the jail commander was long gone. It apparently took the women weeks to get their ceiling tiles loose, but once they did, the men would replace them after the women returned to their area so jailers would not be suspicious.
Two of the women and two of the men charged denied being involved, although witnesses said otherwise. Rathburn and Snyder, though, fessed up to the accusations, police said
The Bady Bunch-Obama style!
That’s a good point. What kind of standards can you maintain in jail?
Oops..Brady Bunch - Obama style!
[cue the “Hogan’s Heroes” theme]
Is that a low cut sweater she has on? Why isn’t everyone dressed in pumpkin orange?
“You’ve got to keep them separated.”
‘’’the upper left girl would start to look pretty good after a few months of staring at the butt-uglies in the cell with me.’’’’
She would start to look good at 3am in most bars around here.
Is it just me, but I feel so sorry for that third female on the right. She looks so young and pitiful, while the other two look so tough.
I agree with you, looks like innocence compared to the other ones, you can see it in their eyes. The one dude in the middle bottom is just flat crazy from the look he has.
Got caught holding.
Twenty-six, she looks younger than her years. I still feel sorry for her, she looks so defeated and not tough and defiant like the other two.
A good lawyer would have fun with this.
He could argue that since they never left the jail and had no plans to leave the jail that they were not, in fact, trying to escape.
In fact, I believe their are precedents that would back him up.
I’m not a lawyer at all, and I’m still having fun with it.
Your legal argument prevailed:
http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20090124/NEWS06/90124008/1002/NEWS01
In other words, the judge approves of jailhouse sex.
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