By Alan Johnson
The Columbus Dispatch
LIMA, Ohio — T.J. Lane and the two other inmates who escaped last night have been transferred to the Ohio State Penitentiary at Youngstown, the state’s “supermax” prison.
Ohio prison officials praised “quick work” by cooperating law enforcement agencies in recapturing Lane, Lindsey Bruce, and Clifford Opperud, who escaped at 7:38 p.m. Thursday by scaling a fence to access a roof of a nearby building at the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima, about 80 miles south of Toledo.
Lane, 19, was convicted of killing three students at Chardon High School on Feb. 27, 2012. Bruce is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for the 2004 killing of 5-year-old Emily Rimel of Madison Township.
A number of law enforcement agencies a formed perimeter around the prison, leading to the trio’s capture, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said.
“The quick work by the State Highway Patrol and the Allen County and Lima law enforcement responders was impressive and I appreciate it,” prisons chief Gary Mohr said in his first statement since the escapes.
“We never like to have a problem which requires us to turn to our local partners for help but when we do we like knowing that they are there and are able to respond as well as they did last night. It was a strong response that produced the desired outcomes and produced them quickly.”
Officials said Bruce was quickly apprehended by a prison employee while still on prison grounds, while Lane was recaptured at 1:20 a.m. with the help of a patrol canine that tracked him to a church building.
Opperud was found hiding under a boat in a residential area with the aid of an infrared camera mounted on a patrol helicopter. A canine then helped flush him out at 4:20 a.m. Both men were recaptured without incident.
Prison officials said in a statement said that because of the “severity of his crimes and threats that had been made against his life by other inmates,” Lane was assigned the highest level security grade “typically given to a first-time inmate, as well as a protective custody classification...Criminal and administrative investigations are currently under way to determine what led to the inmates’ escape, and outside experts will also be tasked to review DRC procedures to make any possible recommendations for improvements.”
The protective-control unit at the prison where Lane was housed prior to his escape was cited twice in two years by a prison watchdog agency for issues related to high-security inmates.
“We certainly hope and expect that the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction will conduct a thorough review and release a publicly available report of its findings,” Joanna Saul, head of the Correctional Institutional Inspection Committee, said in an email today.
The Ohio Civil Service Association, the union representing prison employees, said that it has “repeatedly warned DRC about major security flaws at the prison,” but improvements have not been made.
OSCEA President Christopher Mabe said the union put prisons on notice about low staffing levels and inadequate security levels. On Wednesday, a union staff member got wind of a possible escape. One inmate was placed in a solitary unit, but no other measures were taken, he said.
“We have got to get back to the basics of security or we will continue to put our officers and communities in harm’s way. DR&C has to do more to secure our facilities. There are no excuses now,” said Mabe.
The union said the Oakwood unit, a section within the larger prison, has skeleton crew. In addition, some corrections officers are being moved over to provide food-service since Aramark Inc., a Philadephia-based company, was awarded the state’s prison food contract.
Ed FitzGerald, Democratic candidate for governor, called for a “very thorough review” of what happened. He noted that corrections officers have told him about prison overcrowding, more violence and increased fears for their safety. He also expressed concerns about privatization of Ohio’s prisons.
The Allen Oakwood facility, which is not privatized, is a medium-security prison, but Lane was in the higher security protective-control unit where inmates are housed who were involved in high-profile cases, made substantiated safety threats, have been involved in gang activity, or have a history of misconduct in prison. In his 19-month stay, Lane had a string of misconduct reports, ranging from failing to follow orders and giving himself a tattoo, to urinating on a prison wall.
Saul said that in prison inspection reports done earlier this year and in 2012 that the committee “has an ongoing concern regarding the protective-control unit. The unit has improved since the prior inspection of 2012, with fewer security management concerns. However, security management remains a concern, both in terms of how the higher security inmates are handled, as well as discipline for misconduct.”
Prison Warden Kevin Jones said at a news conference that questions about why a convicted killer like Lane was not housed at a higher-security prison “will be something we’ll have to sit down and look at.” Jones said he saw Lane after he was captured and that the teen did not say anything.
A statement from prison officials announcing Lane’s capture thanked law enforcement involved in the manhunt, including the State Highway Patrol, Allen County sheriff’s office, Lima Police Department, U.S. Marshals Northwest Ohio Fugitive Task Force and the FBI.
Copyright 2014 The Columbus Dispatch