|
|
| Insider Gives Lifts at Prison |
| By Philadelphia Inquirer |
| Published: 03/05/2003 |
|
Richard Richmond is an unlikely taxi driver. He doesn't accept tips. Or drive faster than 15 m.p.h. Or take passengers farther than one mile. In fact, he never makes it out of the parking lot. Richmond, 41, is one of two inmates who shuttle weekday visitors and staffers to and from their cars at New Jersey's largest prison. And on a 14-degree day last week at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey - where the parking lot is about three football fields long - Richmond was not just inmate No. 276652. He was a godsend. 'I catch a ride whenever I can, especially on cold days,' said Joy Martellio, 29, of Hopewell, Cumberland County, a clerk typist in the prison's education department. She is one of Richmond's regulars. When he spots her leaving the prison around lunchtime, he picks her up and automatically takes her to her silver Chrysler in the back of the lot. Martellio said she worried more about getting hit by another car in the lot than accepting a ride from Richmond. 'I trust him with my life,' she said. South Woods, in Cumberland County, is primarily a medium-security prison surrounded by a 15-foot fence covered with razor wire. It is the only state prison in New Jersey that offers parking lot shuttle service, corrections spokesman Matt Schuman said. There is no such service at any of Pennsylvania's 26 state prisons, corrections spokeswoman Susan McNaughton said. And nationally, the South Woods shuttle is seemingly singular, said John Moore, administrator of the Office of Correctional Job Training and Placement under the U.S. Department of Justice. 'I have not heard of anything like that anywhere else,' he said. 'That surprises me.' Some of the 3,300 prisoners at South Woods are doing time for murder or assault. Only inmates of the minimum-security section who have shown no penchant for violence - and typically those within 36 months of release - get to drive the shuttle, supervisor John Webb said. Jailed in August 2001 for drug possession and aggravated assault, Richmond is just four months shy of parole eligibility. He robbed a Salem resident in 1999 using a brick as a weapon, police records show. It is unclear whether the victim was hurt. Webb said Richmond's criminal record does not preclude him from driving the shuttle. Richmond has been driving for about a year. The thought of escape, he said, never crosses his mind. 'There ain't nothing but more time if you get caught,' said Richmond, a soft-spoken former amateur boxer. Besides, he pointed out, he wouldn't get far wearing his neon-orange prison uniform and driving a battery-powered, elongated golf cart that barely hits 20 m.p.h. In the four years of shuttle service, no driver has tried to escape, Webb said. Shuttle drivers are watched by officers in two towers overlooking the parking lot, he said, and officers on the ground periodically check on drivers. Sometimes, Richmond can almost hear passengers sucking in their breath when they think he is heading for the road beyond the parking lot. A more pressing problem, he said, is accommodating the crowds, particularly during the morning rush between 8 and 9:45, when most of the 1,060 employees arrive. They flag Richmond down and cram into the 12-seat shuttle. Some bark at him to hurry or scold him for picking up others first. On rainy days, they line up in the prison lobby. Richmond said he enjoyed the job. He likes being outdoors, even on days when he's wearing three pairs of long johns and three pairs of socks. And he injects a little humor, such as the sticker above his head. It reads: 'Please do not sit on the body bags.' |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Do you know someone who has been arrested in Waco or McLennan County? It’s important to find a good Waco lawyer to represent you in the matter involving your own liberty. Look for the best Waco Attorney that you can find. Whether you have been accused rightly or wrongly, it’s important to know your legal rights that concern whether you go to jail.