BY JUDITH LUCAS
NEWARK STAR-LEDGER
UNTION COUNTY, N.J. — Union County officials served dismissal notices yesterday to three sergeants and two correc tions officers who were in charge of the high-security unit at the county jail from which two inmates escaped last month.
The action was the latest step in the investigation into the dramatic escape that drew national headlines. The Union County jail warden was reassigned and his second in command was fired last month.
Jose Espinosa and Otis Blunt vanished from their cells overnight between Dec. 14 and 15. Critical to their escape and their nearly four weeks on the lam was the fact that they had a huge head start.
Espinosa got 20 hours and Blunt got about 13 hours lead time before any corrections officer no ticed there was no movement in either of their third-floor cells.
Their absence was not detected until dinnertime on Dec. 15, when they did not rouse for their meals.
The officers facing dismissal are David D’Amore and Patrick Ken nedy. The supervisors who were singled out with their subordinates are Sgts. Christopher Sloan, Jo seph Simpson and Richard Gris wold.
The disciplinary notices were handed out yesterday afternoon. Officers were served at their workplace in Elizabeth, according to lawyers and union officials. They were immediately suspended with pay on administrative charges of neglect of duty and failure to supervise. A hearing on Feb. 4 will determine if they will continue to receive salaries.
“I am shocked they are seeking termination,” said attorney Robert Norton, who represents Griswold, an 18-year veteran. “This is really outrageous.”
Griswold, 38, came on duty a couple of hours before the escape was detected. Norton said Gris wold was not on duty during the hours that the men escaped.
“The failure of the jail to have in place policy and procedures should not be the fault of the sergeant,” said Norton. “The fault should be spread to the administration. Richard Griswold has an impeccable record. He is a rising star at the jail and part of the jail’s special operations unit.”
Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said his office investigated the reasons for the escape and left it to the Union County administration to file the personnel charges.
“We submitted our internal report to the county yesterday. They reviewed it and made determinations about the penalty,” Romankow said. “There were some serious issues regarding the work performance of the supervisors and the officers.”
Since the escape, Union County has added more razor wire around the perimeter of the facility, added security cameras and posted guards outside of the jail.
“We will act in accordance with the prosecutor’s recommendations,” said county spokesman Se bastian D’Elia.
Espinosa, 20, and Blunt, 32, spent weeks hammering through cinderblock without any notice from the corrections officers or their supervisors.
The escapees left a facetious note, complete with smiley face and raised middle finger, thanking corrections officer Rudolph Zurick for the tools they used.
Zurick killed himself on Jan. 2, the day he was to be questioned by Union County investigators.
Authorities determined that Es pinosa and Blunt used a 10-pound iron handle from a fire sprinkler shutoff valve that they stole to chip up the cinderblock between their cells and to an outside wall.
They jumped 25 feet from a third-floor roof onto railroad tracks that run near the jail compound. Espinosa hurt his leg and made it less than a mile from the jail to a basement apartment. He was holed up in a home on Summer Street in Elizabeth with his girlfriend when police burst in on Jan. 8.
Blunt took a bus to Texas and then crossed the border into Mexico. He was with an unidentified woman when police stormed his hotel room on Jan. 9.
Blunt was awaiting trial for a holdup in October 2005 in which a convenience store clerk was shot in the head in Hillside. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Espinosa, a member of the Bloods gang, was to be sentenced to 17 years for manslaughter. He admitted he took part in a 2005 drive-by shooting of a rival gang member.
As news spread on the potential dismissal of the officers, advocates like Jim Roche of PBA Local 199, which represents the corrections officers, vowed to support the men to the end.
“They are all individuals I have worked with,” Roche said. “I know them to be decent, hardworking men. They should continue to work because they do not pose any harm. They don’t pose any threat to the facility. Their families and children should not have to suffer.”
Attorney Joseph Spagnoli, who represents Kennedy, agreed that the charges are too harsh.
“Officers working alone on the midnight shift should not be ex pected to make sure the inmates are in their beds sleeping when all they have is a flashlight,” Spagnoli said. “There was no policy for them to wake an inmate to ensure he is in bed.”
Lt. James Rinaldo, president of the Superior Officers Association at the jail, said the widespread publicity the escape attracted is the main reason the county is looking to terminate the officers.
“It was on television all across the United States. They had to make a statement,” Rinaldo said. “I respect the decision of the prosecutor but don’t necessarily agree with the severity of the sanctions imposed.”
Copyright 2008 The The Star-Ledger