Report: Multiple mistakes allowed Berkeley County inmate escape

A series of slipups by detention officers watching hundreds of inmates allowed a domestic violence suspect to stroll out of the Berkeley County jail in January and escape, according to a Sheriff's Office internal report.

Lt. Tony Riley and Sgt. Patricia Collins failed to fully read inmate James Sanders' file before clearing him for release Jan. 26, and Collins resisted efforts by a victim's advocate to point out the gaffe, investigators found.

Collins told an advocate that "we have the discharge paper, we can't keep him here forever, it is what it is," the report stated.

Sanders had been sentenced to time served for violating a protective order and was good to go on that count, but he was not eligible for release because he still had a pending domestic violence charge, authorities said.

Investigators also found that Pfc. Tyler McWethy didn't properly handcuff Sanders, which allowed him to slip away and follow Sgt. Rosemary Sanders through a door that led to the outside.

Though inmates are supposed to be released through another entrance, the sergeant didn't adequately question James Sanders when she spotted him trailing behind her, the report stated.

When she asked him about the detention center arm band he was wearing, "he came back and gave it to her and kept walking" with no further inquiry from the officer, the report stated.

Berkeley County officials released the report Tuesday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Post and Courier. Workers interviewed by investigators noted that the jail had between seven and nine detention officers supervising at least 300 inmates on the day Sanders escaped.

The report indicates that victims' advocates tried to alert detention officers to the mix-up and get them to re-check Sanders' paperwork before he got free. They also contacted the victim in Sanders' case, who threatened to call the media or sue if he were released, the report states.

Sheriff Wayne DeWitt demoted Riley to sergeant on Feb. 1, noting in a letter that "the escape could have been avoided had you read the entire file."

Riley filed a grievance over the discipline, but the demotion stands, Maj. Ricky Driggers said.

DeWitt fired Collins the same day for failing to follow proper procedures. He pointed out in a memo that she had "been counseled numerous times verbally and in writing regarding policy noncompliance."

McWethy and Rosemary Sanders were each suspended for a week without pay for their roles in the incident.

James Sanders remains at large. The U.S. Marshals Service continues to assist deputies in the hunt for him, Driggers said.

In the wake of the escape, procedures for releasing prisoners have been changed. Inmates now are released at the front of the jail, and the pre-release room is off-limits to them, officials said.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or on Twitter at @glennsmith5.