 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Another working inmate escapes
By CARRIE JOHNSON HOLDER -- For the second time in less than a week, a Citrus County jail inmate has escaped after walking away from a work detail, prompting county officials to convene an emergency meeting to review the policy of allowing inmates to work outside the jail. Joseph John Messina, 36, was one of four inmates collecting litter in Central Ridge Park about 8:30 a.m. Monday when he bolted for County Road 491, said Charles Poliseno, the county's director of public safety. Messina was captured, but not before he managed to shed his prison garb, use a cellular phone to call a taxi and visit a friend's store in Marion County in an apparent attempt to see his pregnant wife. Messina was being held Monday night at the Marion County jail. He is expected to be returned today to Citrus, where he will be charged with escape. It was the second escape in six days for the jail. Last Tuesday, Robert Charles Gordon fled from his work detail at the Fire Services Center in Lecanto. He was captured a few hours later when a crime analyst from the Sheriff's Office saw him walking on Donohue Lane. "To have two in one week, it certainly makes us question what's going on," said Poliseno. Poliseno called a meeting Monday afternoon with representatives from the county's public works department and Carlos Melendez, the jail's warden, to discuss whether the back-to-back escapes shared any similarities or are part of a larger pattern. They also will discuss ways to fortify the jail's outside work program or the possibility of discarding it, Poliseno added. "But it's not something we're considering eliminating right away," he said. Both escapees were trusties, inmates who are allowed to perform work in the jail or on the outside in exchange for time off a sentence. A trusty at the Citrus County jail can earn up to 10 days a month. Messina was sentenced in October on charges of violating parole on one count each of driving while intoxicated, possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia; failing to appear in court on two counts of driving with a suspended license and one count of license plate infraction; and one count of being an unlicensed contractor, said Diana Plevell, quality assurance manager for the jail. He was scheduled to be released April 12, Plevell said. Messina and the other inmates were spread out along the entranceway of Central Ridge Park when the county employee supervising the group saw Messina make a break for CR 491, Poliseno said. The employee was following county policy when he didn't try to apprehend the escapee himself. "If an inmate decides to walk off, they are to make a brief search of the area. If they don't see anything, they are to immediately notify 911 and the jail," Poliseno said. Sheriff's deputies searched the area using a tracking dog, who picked up Messina's scent, said Ronda Hemminger Evan, a spokeswoman for the Citrus County Sheriff's Office. The dog discovered Messina's blue jail-issued jumpsuit in a clump of bushes near CR 491 and the Withlacoochee State Trail. Two witnesses said they saw a man wearing shorts matching Messina's description in the area, Evan said. After dumping his clothes, Messina managed to locate a cellular phone, although deputies aren't sure how yet, Evan said. He called a Beverly Hills taxicab company and asked for a lift to the Publix on State Road 200, across the Marion County line. When they arrived, Messina told the taxi driver he worked at the grocery store and would pay him at the end of his 2 p.m. shift, Evan said. The suspicious driver dialed 911, and Marion County Sheriff's Office deputies were dispatched to Steeplechase Plaza, in the 8500 block of SR 200, said spokesman Lenny Uptagraft. Messina was found about 11 a.m. in a hearing aid store called Hearing Concepts of Ocala. "We caught a glimpse of him and he caught a glimpse of us and he went out the back door," said Uptagraft. Brian Lazio, the owner of Hearing Concepts, said Messina has worked on his home and business for many years. But he was pretty surprised when he saw his friend arrive at the store early Monday morning. "I thought that he must have been released from jail," Lazio said. "Then I saw the cops wandering around and I thought, "Uh-oh. I guess he wasn't released after all.' " Lazio was attending to customers and didn't speak to the escaped inmate. But he said that Messina's wife is more than seven months pregnant, and that he suspects his friend was going to ask him for money to take her out of state. "It really wasn't too bright," Lazio said of the escape. "I kept telling him he needs to hang in there and do what he needs to get done. But I guess when you have a pregnant wife at Christmastime, you aren't thinking too clearly." Messina was found by Marion deputies crouching behind a bale of hay near a storage trailer and arrested, said Uptagraft. He was wearing a white T-shirt and shorts, thought to be the standard outfit worn beneath a jail-issued jumpsuit, Uptagraft said.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
Citrus Times |
