INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Nothing Rondell Reed does in his solitary, maximum security cell at the Indian River County will go unnoticed, authorities said Thursday afternoon. The U.S. Marshals Office returned Reed to the jail at 10:30 a.m. where he was strip searched and placed under 24-hour observation.
Sheriff Deryl Loar announced Reed’s return to the county jail.
“Inmate Reed’s history has alarmed us,” Sheriff Loar said, explaining the justification of Reed’s treatment.
While in solitary, Reed’s activities and privileges will be very limited. The lights will remain on in his cell 24 hours daily, and his actions will be documented every 15 minutes.
His cell is equipped with a stainless steel toilet and sink and a one-piece plastic bed.
Reed is expected to undergo both physical and mental evaluations today, Sheriff Loar said. He described Reed as having lost 15 pounds from the time he escaped the jail on Oct. 24 and his return to the jail.
Sheriff Loar said there is an ongoing investigation into how the jailbreak occurred and why it had not been discovered sooner. The jailbreak was reported before 5 a.m., but the investigation thus far has shown that the escape happened closer to 1 a.m.
Detectives from the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office were sent up to Warren County, Ohio, where Reed was captured.
Loar said Reed was cooperative during the detectives’ interviews with him prior to his extradition to Indian River County.
“I don’t think he was too glad to see us,” Loar said of Reed’s reaction to the detectives’ arrival in Ohio.
To Loar’s knowledge, no independent interviews have been conducted with Reed since his return to the jail.
“It’s been an extremely long two weeks,” Sheriff Loar said. “I’m very relieved and proud” of the agencies’ work in capturing Reed.
