Jail Security in Question After Escapes
By: Jamie Kuras
Updated: February 1, 2011
ODESSA -- "It looks like they got into a pipe chase which unfortunately was left unlocked which allowed them to get into the ceiling area above the cell. Because of the way the construction is they couldn't go side to side. The only way the could get out is go up through the roof. "
That's how Sheriff Mark Donaldson describes how 34-year-old Russell Graham Rice, 38-year-old Robert Steven Dudley and 32-year-old Rickey Lavell Taylor escaped from jail Saturday night before being caught just a few hours later.
Donaldson said that the Ector County Sheriff's Department was made aware of the escape nearly 3 hours after the escape when Odessa Police retained Rice and Dudley.
Taylor, the third escapee, was captured a short while later at an apartment complex near the 1300 block of E. 7th St.
Many residents in the area were upset because the suspects were gone for a few hours before anyone realized that they were missing.
"The problem is that we should have realized it a lot sooner then that because we do hourly rounds and it appears that the policies that are in place may not have been followed as far as making sure there's somebody in that cell," said Donaldson. "Not just looking in there but actually counting how many people are in the cell that are supposed to be there and making sure they're in there."
Donaldson also said that they are investigating how the inmates were able to get out of the locked doors and why the hatch to the roof was also left unlocked.
Two other incidents in recent months in Ector County involved inmates walking away from work release crews making some residents fear that this is only going to happen again.
That's how Sheriff Mark Donaldson describes how 34-year-old Russell Graham Rice, 38-year-old Robert Steven Dudley and 32-year-old Rickey Lavell Taylor escaped from jail Saturday night before being caught just a few hours later.
Donaldson said that the Ector County Sheriff's Department was made aware of the escape nearly 3 hours after the escape when Odessa Police retained Rice and Dudley.
Taylor, the third escapee, was captured a short while later at an apartment complex near the 1300 block of E. 7th St.
Many residents in the area were upset because the suspects were gone for a few hours before anyone realized that they were missing.
"The problem is that we should have realized it a lot sooner then that because we do hourly rounds and it appears that the policies that are in place may not have been followed as far as making sure there's somebody in that cell," said Donaldson. "Not just looking in there but actually counting how many people are in the cell that are supposed to be there and making sure they're in there."
Donaldson also said that they are investigating how the inmates were able to get out of the locked doors and why the hatch to the roof was also left unlocked.
Two other incidents in recent months in Ector County involved inmates walking away from work release crews making some residents fear that this is only going to happen again.
