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NC inmate mistakenly freed from jail after posing as jail mate

The sheriff said the mistake was largely due to understaffing

Vance Edward Hinson, Jr..jpg

Vance Edward Hinson Jr. was mistakenly released from the Burke County Jail last week but is now back in custody.

Burke County Sheriff’s Office

By Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer

MORGANTON, N.C. — A North Carolina inmate was mistakenly freed late last week when he responded to the name of another inmate who was scheduled for release, authorities said Tuesday.

The Burke County Jail inmate, 27-year-old Vance Edward Hinson Jr. of Morganton, remained on the loose until Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities reported finding him in the attic of a home in the 5900 block of Jenkins Road in Morganton. He didn’t resist when he was caught, sheriff’s officials said.

Earlier, in a Facebook post, Sheriff Steve Whisenant urged “any citizen who may see Hinson to call 911 immediately and do not approach him.”

Late Friday, about an hour after Hinson’s release by a detention officer, jailers realized the mix-up and notified their supervisors, Whisenant said. The officer “violated jail protocols” in freeing Hinson, the sheriff said.

“We had an inmate that used another person’s name when they were called forward to be booked out of the jail due to a bond being processed,” Whisenant said. “(Hinson) came forward and we just failed to follow all of our protocols to ensure we had the right inmate before he was released.”

Jail protocol calls for staff members to print a photo of any inmate before release. It also calls for wristbands on inmates to better identify them.

“If you’re fully staffed and you follow protocol, that would never happen,” Whisenant said. “The difficulty is we are understaffed, and officers are having to do multiple duties. Our goal would be to have an intake officer and an officer for release and always have those two people. In this circumstance, we didn’t have that.”

Hinson was in the jail on charges of failure to appear, possession of a schedule I controlled substance and for a probation violation, jail records show.

On Monday, an arrest warrant charging Hinson with felony escape was issued, and the Sheriff’s Office called in the U.S. Marshals Service to help find him, the sheriff said.

(c)2021 The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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