By Shawntaye Hopkins
The Lexington Herald-Leader
FAYETTE COUNTY, Ky. — A Fayette County jail officer who mistakenly released the wrong inmate from custody in March was suspended for two days earlier this month for not following jail procedure.
Cpl. Timothy Kent was suspended without pay for 16 hours, or two work days, beginning on April 10. It marked the fourth time in three years that Kent had been disciplined for not following jail policies.
The April suspension stems from the erroneous release of Antoine G. Hill. Hill, 21, and Michael D. Allen, 26, were both in an intake holding area of the jail on March 23 when Allen was called for release. Hill stepped forward and gave Allen’s Social Security number and date of birth “accurately and without hesitation,” Kent wrote in a jail memo dated March 23.
Kent’s memo said Hill resembled Allen in a photo that was in the offender index, a printout that provides officers with a picture of the inmate and details their charges.
According to disciplinary records, Kent used the offender index to verify Hill’s identity instead of using a photo on a monitor that was clearer.
Hill, whose hair is longer than Allen’s, is 5-feet-10 and 149 pounds, according to jail records. Allen is 5-feet-6 and 175 pounds and is pictured in jail mug shots with much shorter hair than Hill’s.
When he was released, Hill refused to take items -- an empty Doral cigarette box and black lighter -- that belonged to Allen.
Later, when jail officials realized the wrong person was released, Kent said that he had Hill remove his hood as Kent was identifying him for release. But a video recording showed that Hill did not remove his hood.
Hill, who was initially booked on federal drug charges, was arrested without incident the next day and charged with second-degree escape.
Kent could not be reached for comment. As a result of Hill’s release, Kent was disciplined for inefficiency in performing assigned duties and misconduct for misrepresenting the truth by saying he had had Hill remove the hood.
Allen was never charged in connection with the incident.
It is not clear how Hill got Allen’s Social Security number and date of birth.
Jail supervisors reviewed procedures with Kent following Hill’s release, Kelly said. Kelly noted there are 26,000 people released from the jail a year and that mistakes like this one rarely occur.
Kelly said jail officials could not discuss the case because it’s still open for appeal.
Kent failed to follow jail procedures twice last year and once in 2006, according to jail records.
He was given a written reprimand in August 2006 for failing to feed seven inmates who had returned from a court appearance, according to disciplinary records.
In May 2007, Kent was given an oral warning for allowing a man who was reporting to serve time at the jail to enter without following proper procedures. Fayette County jail spokesman Capt. Darin Kelly said Kent did not properly identify the man who improperly entered through the jail’s back loading dock door instead of through intake.
In August 2007, Kent was suspended for 24 hours for allowing a civilian to enter through a secure entrance.
Copyright 2008 Lexington Herald-Leader