INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Two deputies who have been with the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office a combined nine years have been placed on unpaid suspension for 40 hours following the 90-day investigation into the jail break at the Indian River County Jail on Oct. 24.
Deputies Richard McGriff and Leonidas Hernandez were found in violation of a general order – Neglect of Duty: Loafing, Inattention to Duties/Procedures – for not verifying that inmates Leviticus Taylor and Rondell Reed were in fact in their cell in the early morning hours of Oct. 24.
Sheriff Deryl Loar said the 40-hour unpaid suspension was the maximum disciplinary action the deputies could have received.
He stressed there was “zero intent” by the deputies to deceive. Neither had any disciplinary issues in their files prior to the jail escape.
“They obviously feel terrible about the incident,” the sheriff said about the deputies.
Instead, Sheriff Loar said the deputies had become complacent in their routine duties.
Also to come out of the Internal Affairs investigation is a list of policy changes and improvements underway at the jail to better ensure an escape such as Taylor and Reed’s does not happen again.
Among the changes is the closure of the jail’s two law libraries, where a hacksaw blade had been stashed and used by Taylor and Reed during their escape. A portable touch-screen kiosk has been leased to the jail to provide the mandated legal materials inmates are allowed to access.
According to Sheriff Loar, a trustee at the jail – classified as a “low-risk” inmate – is suspected of having acquired a hacksaw blade from maintenance work he had performed at the jail and bringing it into the jail. Authorities have yet to identify a specific trustee.
The Sheriff’s Office has since changed its policy regarding what trustees are able to bring into the jail.
Outgoing inmate mail will be more closely reviewed for contraband and facility rule violations by staff and incoming/outgoing legal mail, too, shall be reviewed, according to the policy changes.
The investigation revealed that Taylor, who had been convicted of murder, had been corresponding with a person, identified as his girlfriend Sadie Welker, about his plans to escape.
As part of the changes, Sheriff Loar said deputies would limit what they call “nuisance” contraband – cups, apples, oranges, and the such from the commissary.
There is “frankly, too much,” the sheriff said.
Deputies will also be required to check the utility rooms behind certain cells to determine if there have been any changes.
Taylor and Reed escaped from their cell into one such utility room – called a “chase” – and then broke through a steel door to get outside the jail.
More cameras have been installed – going from 192 to 256 to cover “virtually every angle” of the jail, Sheriff Loar said.
All jail staff has received additional training and encouraged to not become complacent.
“The culture at the Indian River County Jail has changed,” Sheriff Loar said.
Looking forward to future improvements to the jail, the sheriff said he plans to go before the County Commission with budgetary requests for further hardening of the facility.