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| Reprimands, Changes After Va. Jail Inmate Escapes |
| By Tasley Eastern Shore News |
| Published: 05/12/2003 |
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Northampton County, Va., Jail supervision policies have been changed and jailors have been reprimanded following the escape last week of an inmate who allegedly assaulted a guard and fled the facility. James R. Boggs, 24, of Onancock, ran across a residential area of Eastville after police say he freed himself at 9:19 p.m. Wednesday from the county's jail annex. The inmate allegedly took a Northampton County Public Schools car from a bus garage -- the keys were left in the vehicle -- and was arrested the next day near the runway at the Accomack County Airport after authorities spotted the stolen car. While Northampton's crumbling jail and the nearby storefront annex have always been a logistical nightmare for county law-enforcement officials, Sheriff Jack Robbins said new procedures have been instituted as a result of the escape. The county has been incarcerating some inmates in the annex since 1993 because of overcrowding in the jail, which was built in 1914. The annex, which faces Courthouse Road, once was a grocery store. Boggs, who is being held in the Accomack County Jail without bond, faces charges of escape, destruction of property, assault of a jailor and larceny of a vehicle, Robbins said. Authorities are also probing Boggs' connection to a string of thefts here and in Maryland, Robbins said, including an armed robbery earlier this month at the Days Inn motel near Townsend. Northampton has plans to build a regional jail in an agreement with Accomack County. The jail and other county facilities, including a new courthouse and Social Services building, will be constructed on a 50-acre parcel just west of the county administration building. Robbins said construction on the jail should begin in 2004 and be complete two years later. Northampton now must spend money to house excess inmates in other facilities. A new dormitory-style building that will eventually house Robbins' office will be constructed first and used as a temporary jail, he said. Robbins said the building will enable the county to house all of its inmates -- even females -- within the county. |
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