Inmates bust out of jail
‘Dangerous’ prisoners recapturedArticle Photos
By MARY ANN GREIER
Salem News staff writer
LISBON - Four male prisoners who crawled through duct work to escape the Columbiana County Jail found freedom shortlived after their capture in western Pennsylvania Monday afternoon in a stolen car with a female accomplice.
All four had been considered dangerous by Sheriff David Smith and all four had hearings scheduled this week for pending felony cases, including 40-year-old William Merritt, who was charged last month with attempted murder and aggravated robbery in the alleged beating and stabbing of a woman in East Liverpool on July 8.
Merritt, whose last known address was 2208 Ohio Ave., East Liverpool, had been scheduled for arraignment on the first-degree felony charges Monday afternoon.
The other reported escapees included:
Mark Foden, 38, of 1907 Park Place Ave., East Liverpool, who was supposed to face trial today for two counts of robbery, a second-degree felony
Jason Heffner, 28, last known address 181 Main St., Salineville, who was supposed to face a pretrial Friday on several felony counts, including four counts of burglary and single counts of attempted theft, breaking and entering, theft and receiving stolen property
John Hamilton, 21, of 1007 E. Fourth St., Salem, who was supposed to face a pretrial Friday for identity theft, misuse of credit card and receiving stolen property.
According to a press release issued by Smith, the Sheriff's Office received notification at 2:40 p.m. from the Pennsylvania State Police that the missing inmates were in custody and being taken to the Allegheny County Jail to await extradition back to Ohio. All four will be charged with escape, a first-degree felony, according to Chief Deputy Allen Haueter of the Sheriff's Office.
While checking a possible address in Bellevue, Pa. which had been provided by the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, a trooper with the Pennsylvania State Police located the 1995 Buick which had been reported stolen from a Trinity Church Road property in Lisbon and had been identified as a possible escape car. Bellevue is located outside Pittsburgh.
The press release said Bellevue Police attempted to stop the vehicle during a short pursuit which ended when the driver fled on foot. Heffner, identified as the driver, was apprehended about 20 minutes later. The others, who had also been in the car, reportedly stayed put. Heffner's girlfriend, 26-year-old Melissa McCulley, of 181 E. Main St., Salineville, was with them.
She will be charged with complicity to escape, a second-degree felony.
Haueter said investigators learned she was picked up by the men around 1:30 a.m. in the Trinity Church Road area of Lisbon, the same area where the car was reported missing around 8:30 a.m.
During a press conference, Smith said the Sheriff's Office received a call around 6 a.m. from jail personnel who reported four inmates were missing from the fully-secured, full-service jail. His description of what appeared to transpire sounded like something from a movie.
"The area where these people escaped through is amazing," he said.
Smith explained the prisoners broke into a storage closet inside the pod where they were being housed and then went through a small access door to the electrical/plumbing duct work. They crawled along the duct work and eventually came to a spot where they managed to break the lock on a hatch door and crawl out onto the roof. From there they jumped 10 to 15 feet to the ground, located at the front of the building between the main entrance and the vehicle entrance, outside of the fenced area, and fled.
When asked if they were still wearing their jail garb when they were caught, Haueter said their orange jumpsuits were found on the roof of the jail.
"Obviously they've had this in the planning stage for some time," Smith said, adding they obviously had some help on the outside.
The Sheriff's Office immediately sent out teletypes with their descriptions and a description of the car to the tri-state area. Besides from Pennsylvania State Police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Sheriff's Office received help in the manhunt from the U.S. Marshal's Office, Hancock County Sheriff's Office in West Virginia, Mahoning County Sheriff's Office, local police departments and agencies in all three states.
When asked about what time the escape occurred and the fact that the Sheriff's Office wasn't notified until 6 a.m., Smith said they were still trying to determine what time the escape occurred. Since the suspects were seen outside of the jail at 1:30 a.m., about 10 miles from the County Home Road site, the escape likely occurred before that.
County Prosecutor Robert Herron said he was given a time frame from midnight to 5 a.m. for when the event happened. He expressed concern because the escape occurred from the main jail, which is maximum security, and because of who the escapees were.
Besides the attempted murder and aggravated robbery charges, which carry possible prison terms of up to 10 years each, Merritt has a second case pending from May for receiving stolen property and forgery for allegedly cashing two stolen checks. He's also a registered sex offender for a rape charge, according to Columbiana County records.
Foden was accused of committing two robberies in one week in March when he allegedly punched the store clerks while stealing money from the cash registers. The first robberies occurred at the Seventh Street Drive-thru and the Bradshaw Street Giant Eagle, both in East Liverpool. His record included a 2003 burglary and 2004 robbery which resulted in prison terms, along with charges for theft and forgery.
Heffner has three separate cases pending for a variety of felony charges besides the ones already mentioned. He's scheduled to face trial in December for charges of receiving stolen property and breaking and entering, with another trial set for October for nonsupport of dependents for allegedly failing to pay child support. For the most recent indictment, issued in June, he was accused of trespassing in five properties in February and March, stealing a vehicle in March, an ATV in February and possessing a stolen ATV in February.
McCulley was also indicted in June for two counts of theft and five counts of forgery, all fifth-degree felonies, and one count of complicity to burglary, a third-degree felony, for allegedly forging stolen checks, helping Heffner with a burglary and stealing a credit card.
Hamilton was indicted in June for using another subject's personal identifying information from Sept. 20, 2007 to March of this year. He also had the victim's driver's license.
Mary Ann Greier can be reached at mgreier@salemnews.net
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WatchDog
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08-20-08 1:21 PM
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It only pointed to the one little small problem occurring and not the big picture of problems that affect us in the public. It is very easy to pass the buck to bottom guy on the ladder. It holds someone accountable but the problems are still there. You want ask questions, I do too. I don’t want to hear about the policy and procedures that are in place, I want to know about the policy and procedures that ARE NOT IN PLACE. Who is responsible for this escape? The Sheriff, the laws on the books, the county commissioners, CEC, the court system and WE THE PEOPLE. All the listed play a huge role in why our public safety was compromised with this escape.
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WatchDog
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08-20-08 1:20 PM
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Heafin the injustice is EXACTLY what you did and does not apply common sense to the whole entire incident. You easily wanted to point the finger at the correctional officers when it safe to assume based on tons of different news articles on record that the problem is bigger than even what Sheriff Smith is painting to the public in his bid to avoid his “being held accountable” as to why and how this escape occurred. As for your remarks, you didn’t just ask questions. You made statements. You wrote: “Inmates are supposed to be checked every 15 minutes to 30 minutes throughout the night!” “CO's should have seen or heard something coming.” “The only reason these inmates were successful is because they learned the CO's routine” “And nobody was sitting in control watching the main cameras!” You would know this how heafin? Past experience of employment at this jail? In other words, common sense that you tried to apply doesn’t always fit the scenario at hand. It only poin
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heafin
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08-20-08 3:39 AM
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The fact of the matter is that it is NOT expertise, it's common sense (and policy and procedure) when you work in the correction field. You are right, the truth is that we as the "public" meaning non-employees of that jail, will never know the exact truth which is why I posted questions as to why I thought this took place. Not for you to judge me or my so-called expertise!
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WatchDog
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08-19-08 12:37 PM
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HEY heafin, I hear they are taking applications at the jail. Why don't you apply? It appears they could use your EXPERTISE in running that county jail since it is apparently CLEAR you HOLD A LOT ANSWERS to the OPERATION PROCEDURES. Truth of the matter is WE THE PUBLIC will never know the REAL TRUTH to the entire incident.
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heafin
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08-19-08 12:10 PM
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Are you kidding me?? SOMEone is OBVIOUSLY NOT doing their job!!!!!!!!! Where were the correction officers who were supposed to be watching these inmates?? Why was this not noticed until several hours later?? Inmates are supposed to be checked every 15 minutes to 30 minutes throughout the night! CO's should have seen or heard something coming. You're telling me nobody saw anything, on camera or with their own eyes? Nobody heard any unusual noise?? THe only reason these inmates were successfull is because they learned the CO's routine. They had to have known the CO would not return for sometime thus giving them plenty of opportunity! And nobody was sitting in control watching the main cameras! Thank GOD nothing else happened while these 4 inamtes were on the run! I hope these CO's are dealt with accordingly.
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