Three convicted felons have escaped the same community-based correctional facility in the last three weeks. Court documents indicate two of them are still on the run. One of them escaped less than three months ago.
"Unfortunately, many of the clients, as I'm sure a lot of people in the criminal justice system are aware of, are very impulsive, and unfortunately the impulsivities have anti-social actions that we certainly have to deal with," said Anne Connell-Freund, the executive vice-president of operations for Oriana House.
Oriana House operates the Judge Nancy R. McDonnell Community-Based Correctional Facility on Croton Avenue in Cleveland, where the three recently escaped. It houses adult men convicted of a felony which does not require a mandatory prison sentence or men who are incarcerated offenders granted judicial release.
The latest escapee is 22-year-old Cody Lee, convicted of robbery. He kicked out a dorm window the night of Feb. 19 and climbed the perimeter fence. It's almost exactly how Lavelle Tucker and Tyshawn Shepard escaped on Jan. 31.
"We're going to put barbed wire across the entire perimeter fence," Connell-Freund said.
Court documents indicate Lee escaped from a treatment center last November and was re-arrested a week later.
In his latest escape from the Mcdonnell facility, Oriana House officials did notify the public until NewsChannel 5 started asking questions two days later.
"We don't notify the public immediately simply because it would be similar to someone notifying the public if a probationer doesn't report to probation again," said Connell-Freund. "We feel these clients are not going to be at a risk in their neighborhoods."
Tucker, who is convicted of drug possession, is back in custody. Shepard, who is convicted of receiving stolen property, is still on the run and so is Lee.
All three had limited access to the community for work or other programs at McDonnell.
The latest audit for the McDonnell facility, completed by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, indicates that it has an 82 percent satisfactory rate. It has also been compliant with reporting serious incidents to the state within two business days. But, it called for less downtime for offenders, more structured activities and the separation of low-rise and high-risk offenders in treatment groups.
Connell-Freund added that her staff will also lock the dormitory area, take away the pool tables and consider re-enforcing the glass on the windows.
Tucker and Shepard used pool balls to break windows in their escape.
