Posted on 12/19/2007 5:20:59 AM PST by Puppage
ELIZABETH, N.J. -- A mother on Tuesday night said she wants her son who broke free from prison to keep running.
She said it's the only way he'll ever get to clear his name.
Otis Blunt was one of two prisoners who made a dramatic escape from the Union County Jail four days ago.
Despite the all-out manhunt for Blunt, there is at least one person who hopes he isn't found.
Dolores Blunt said she doesn't want police to hurt him or put him back in jail for a crime he said he didn't commit.
The mother of the escaped prisoner said she hasn't slept much since Saturday, when she learned her son and fellow prisoner Jose Espinoza broke out of jail. This was made possible by chiseling away cinder blocks in the cell walls, using pinup girl posters to cover up the holes and leaving rolled up sheets to pose as dummies.
Dolores Blunt insists it was a final act of desperation.
"When he first got locked up, he told his wife he didn't do it," she said. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Otis Blunt, 32, was arrested this year on an armed robbery charge stemming from a 2005 incident at a gas station in Hillside. The owner was shot in the head, but survived. While Dolores Blunt said her son hasn't contacted her directly, she said she received a call from someone who claimed to be her son's friend.
She said the friend told her a security video from the gas station could vindicate her son.
"He was trying to get his lawyer or someone to look at this tape that was from the robbery that he was accused of, and evidently they weren't paying attention to him, they were laughing at him," she said.
The Union County prosecutor declined to discuss the existence of such a video, but said Otis Blunt had been indicted.
In a statement, the prosecutor encouraged members of the family to have him turn himself in. The prosecutor said, 'We don't want to hurt him, we just want to proceed with the normal course of the justice system."
Dolores Blunt said she would not encourage her son to turn himself in.
"Not until he gets his justice that he deserves," she said. "Just stay safe and don't get into any more trouble."
Security at the jail has been heightened since the incident.
The jail was placed in lockdown on Monday night when bed sheets were found torn into 7-foot strips and tied together, possibly an attempt by another inmate to escape.
The prosecutor said all officers working in the prison on Friday and Saturday were required to file reports about what happened during their shifts, and those reports are already being reviewed.
Looking for the “One-Armed Man”, no doubt.
Sometimes you get what you pay for.
Mom watches to much TV.
Great job of imbuing him with traditional values!
She said the friend told her a security video from the gas station could vindicate her son.
Trace that call! It HAD to be the one-armed man.
Well mom, sonny is a criminal NOW after that escape. He will likely be caught and will have to face a much stiffer sentence.
well, someone should atleast investigate his claims. is there a videotape? and why is the prosecutor not discussing it. someone needs to atleast find that out, wether hes guilty or not. if you owned a store you’d be a fool not to have a camera installed.
so that needs to be answered..is there a tape? if so, whats on it?
He should team up with O.J. Simpson to clear BOTH their names.
If your son is shot to death while fleeing, I hope you feel great about this advice, mommy.
Yeah..
I hate when I am buying gum in a store and a robbery happens. The coppers always miss the perp and arrest me, cause I was just standin there.
Then the jury gets a bunch of mis-information and I end up doin a 7 year stint.
I hate when that happens.
Bummer.
Who knows what the real story is. As for the prosecutor, their job is to put someone behind bars, period.
Ancillary member of OJ’s Real Killer club.
their job is to put the right person behind bars...not just whos convenient.
if he really is innocent, then he would be trying to clear his name after he broke out. if hes just sipping mai tai’s on a someones couch, then hes guilty.
Think Nifong ... it isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
In theory only. Just look at how hard they fight any re-opening of a case when new evidence is found.
yea. the justice system is definately falling.
look at celebrities. nothing pisses me off more about the justice system than when celebrities get 3 days in jail for a felony.
Like Kiefer Sutherland?
Apparently these prison officials never saw "Shawshank Redemption". I'm surprised any jail allows posters on the walls.
I was wondering if Mom has a healthy Life Insurance Policy on sonny-boy.
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