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| Escape-Proof Jail a Costly Concept |
| By Yamika-Herald Republic |
| Published: 12/05/2005 |
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Grossly inadequate measures were taken to reinforce Washington's Yakima County jail after a breakout 11 years ago, and the fix this time is going to be "spendy," jail Director Steve Robertson said last week. The nine inmates who punched a hole through the ceiling and escaped Friday staged a nearly exact replay of a breakout involving four inmates in 1994. Seven of the escapees including two murder suspects have since been caught. Two remain at-large. The breakout, one of the nation's biggest in recent years, shined an embarrassing spotlight on overcrowding and understaffing at the jail, where the population has approached 900 prisoners in a facility originally designed for almost half that and where just three corrections officers were guarding an entire floor Friday night. Robertson, a former Yakima County undersheriff who took over the jail operation last year, said Monday he was surprised to find out that little was done to reinforce the ceiling after the first breakout. "This is going to be spendy to do it right," he said of needed repairs. "You're talking about reinforcing the roofing of basically the entire fourth floor. They did not do that 11 years ago." In other developments, the Sheriff's Office released the photograph of a Toppenish woman named Ermilinda Arredondo Puga, who is believed to have joined up with escapee Luis Albert Soto. Sheriff Ken Irwin said the two are from the Toppenish area, where Soto was seen several hours after the escape and is believed to have spent the night Saturday in a storage unit near Heritage University. Soto, 28, and fellow escapee Gianno Alaimo, 26, so far have eluded capture after they and seven other inmates wriggled through a hole in the ceiling in a maximum-security cellblock early Friday evening and gained access to the roof through a vent. Four of the escapees including murder suspect Mariano Figueroa Diaz were caught almost immediately on the roof after a guard spotted movement on a surveillance camera. A fifth was tackled as he lowered himself to the ground using a rope made from bedsheets. Of the four that got away, two were captured Saturday. Acting on a tip, Yakima police found murder suspect Santos Luera and cellmate Terry Moser hiding in the attic of Luera's sister's home on Dalton Lane. Six of the seven captured escapees appeared Monday before Superior Court Judge Robert Hackett, who set various bails ranging from $1 million to $250,000. The seventh inmate, 17-year-old Ivan Arrendondo-Luna, was returned to juvenile court for proceedings there. Irwin has said it's likely Soto and Alaimo have split up. Both men should be considered dangerous and possibly armed, particularly Alaimo. |
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