Wyatt investigation report: Escape was ‘preventable,’ one officer resigns
By: Kirsten Glavin
@kirstenglavin
CENTRAL FALLS, RI –Three months after the escape, a long-awaited investigation report from the Wyatt detention facility Board of Directors was released Friday, detailing how their inmate, James Morales, managed to break out of the facility on New Years Eve.
The escape was broken down in a timeline.
According to the report, around 6:30pm James Morales asked permission from an officer to go to the recreation yard. Morales was given a pat-down and let outside. At that time, the detention officer failed to notice a hidden bed sheet in Morales’ winter jacket and a self-manufactured cutting device in his shoe.
A miscommunication between officers left Morales unattended in the recreation yard for two hours. At 6:23, Morales scaled a basketball hoop, cut a hole in a chain link fence at the top and proceeded to climb through razor wire.
From there, Morales reportedly went onto the roof and eventually ran down to nearby train tracks.
Meanwhile, inside the facility, a routine bedbook count was scheduled for 7p.m. where officers would make sure all inmates were accounted for. None was ever taken. The report identifies this as a violation of policy.
A second bedcount occurred several hours later at 10:30pm. The shift officer accounted Morales as present, although he was long gone.
It was not until about 11pm during an officer shift-change that the officer being relieved, notified the officer coming in to replace him that he could not account for Morales.
At 11:15 an emergency bedcount was held, and by 11:45 Central Falls Police had been notified; five hours after Morales escaped.
The escape resulted in a manhunt through Rhode Island and into Massachusetts. Morales was eventually captured by State Police 5 days later in Somerville, MA, after trying to rob two separate banks.
As a result of the escape, four corrections officers were placed on paid administrative leave. One later resigned.
Wyatt Detention Center has created a Corrective Action Plan to address many of the missteps. Some changes include removing basketball hoops from the recreation yards, increasing metal detection for all detainees and being more diligent with security measures already in place.
Warden Martin has also submitted a request to the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), technical compliance division, to request an additional independent review of the facility’s operating procedures.
For the full report, see below:
