by Anita Baffoni, WPRO News
CENTRAL FALLS- A total of four employees, three correctional officers and one lieutenant, have been put on paid leave at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility following the escape of James Morales on New Years Eve.
Luke Gallant, the chairman of the board that oversees the federal jail, called the escape “completely unacceptable” and a full investigation is underway so “we can improve the Wyatt so an incident like this never occurs again.”
While briefing a pool of reports at the training facility across the street from the jail on Thursday, Gallant gave little details regarding the investigation before going into executive session with the remaining members of the board.
The emergency meeting was called to discuss the detainee’s escape that involved Morales scaling up a basketball hoop in a recreation yard, going on the roof and climbing through razor wire.
Morales went missing around 7 pm on December 31 and wasn’t reported missing until roughly 11:45pm, less than an hour after the last detainee count is.
Leading up until the escape, Morales was alone in the recreation yard attached to his cell block, according to a Wyatt spokesman.
“The Warden and his team are now in the process of interviewing every correctional officer on duty that day, every prisoner in the escaped detainee’s cell block, as well as reviewing all of our operational procedures and security measures,” Gallant said Thursday while standing next to the Warden Daniel Martin who didn’t speak at all to reporters.
There were 29 correctional officers working with a total of 513 detainees accounted for on the night of the escape. There are 140 correctional officers positions fitted for the jail however Wyatt is understaffed, causing officers to work multiple overtime shifts per week.
A full report of the investigation will be made public once it is given to the U.S Marshals Office.
“We are committed to getting to the bottom of what occurred, sharing our findings with our partners, the public and the media, and to developing a corrective action plan to ensure an incident like this never happens again at the Donald Wyatt Detention Facility,” Gallant said.
Earlier Thursday, Morales is believed to have robbed a bank in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hours later in an area close to the bank, Morales was arrested in Somerville by a uniformed trooper with the Massachusetts State Police. He is being booked at the State Police Barracks in Medford.
