Investigations by the Ohio State Highway Patrol as well as officials from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction into details behind the recent escapes by two inmates from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution is ongoing, according to persons familiar with the probes.
File photo
LIMA — An investigation into the circumstances behind the escape some six weeks ago of two inmates from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution that led to the suspension of five prison employees is still ongoing.
Spokespersons for both the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction as well as the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association each said this week there is nothing new to report.
JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the ODRC, said in an email Wednesday that “criminal and administrative investigations are ongoing” as authorities attempt to learn more about the details behind the escape of inmates Bradley Gillespie and James Lee on May 22 or May 23.
An ODRC investigation revealed that Gillespie, 50, and Lee, 47, escaped after concealing themselves in a dumpster that was taken off the prison property. How they were able to hide in the dumpster and how their absence was not discovered has not yet been released.
The men stole a vehicle and were apprehended in Henderson, Kentucky, on May 24. Lee was taken into custody but Gillespie fled on foot. His body was found May 28 in the Ohio River near Henderson.
Correction officers Derrick Coil, Taylor Robey, Tre’mon Glenn Crawford and Lain Patterson, as well as Major Carl Bendross, were placed on paid administrative leave by Allen Oakwood Warden Angela Hunsinger-Stuff pending the results of the ongoing investigations.
Chris Mabe, president of the OCSEA, which represents Ohio prison workers and other state employees, previously blamed the incident on too little staff and mandatory overtime workloads at the facility.
Sally Meckling, communications director for the union, on Thursday said internal and external investigations surrounding the escape are still underway and that there is “nothing new to report right now.”
