By Chris Bristol
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. — Breaking out of jail might be a felony, but that doesn’t mean an escape has to be reported to the public or even to other law enforcement agencies.
Case in point: An escape from the Wapato jail two months ago that nobody heard about.
The incident occurred the evening of July 1. Wapato police Officer Jacob Murphy phoned a Yakima County dispatcher with a report that a witness saw a man in orange jail garb running from the city jail.
About 3 minutes later, Murphy called back and confirmed Johnny Cagle, a contract prisoner from Union Gap, was in fact missing. He then made an unusual request.
“So, apparently we’re not going to be in, like, some big raging hurry to go and try and find this guy,” he told the dispatcher, adding his sergeant “just explained to me that he doesn’t believe (Cagle) is a real threat to society or anything like that. So he told me he doesn’t want anything really going out.”
The officer hangs up moments later, then immediately calls back.
“I just do not want any of that going out over (the radio) ...”
“Anything?” the dispatcher interjects.
“Just put it out on the computer so the guys know he left. ... I don’t know if they want anybody getting a hold of it via scanner.”
Minutes later, Murphy called dispatchers again to discuss how the escape should be logged into Spillman, a database used by most of the region’s police agencies, including Wapato. If the escape is entered, any officer on duty across the county would know there was an escape.
After telling the dispatcher that he’s going to wait for direction from his sergeant, the officer adds, “Because the last thing they need is press right now.”
“OK,” the dispatcher responds.
The comment regarding the news media appears to refer to negative news stories earlier this year about the 68-bed Wapato jail, where a corrections officer was alleged to have had sex with an inmate in a jail restroom last year, and former jail supervisor Bruce Benscoter, who faces charges of embezzling money from a local youth program. A sheriff’s investigation said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge the corrections officer, who has since resigned.
But the investigation recommended Benscoter be charged with harassment and official misconduct for allegedly threatening two female inmates for cooperating with an internal investigation conducted by Wapato police into his own conduct with a former inmate while on duty.
Yakima County Prosecutor Jim Hagarty said he has not yet decided whether Benscoter should be charged.
That same sheriff’s investigation also criticized police Chief Tracy Rosenow for sharing information with Benscoter that might have compromised the investigation into allegations of sex between the corrections officer and the inmate.
The incidents could have repercussions for Wapato, which has contracts with several cities, including a few on the west side of the state, to house their convicted misdemeanor offenders for a fee. Last year, the jail generated about $445,000 for the city’s $3.1 million general fund operating budget.
‘Nobody got hurt’
There is no state or local law that requires that an escape be reported, either to the public or to law enforcement agencies that might encounter an escapee.
Nor is there any requirement that an escape be classified as such. Wapato classified the Cagle incident as a “wanted person.”
In a recent interview, Rosenow said that despite the officer’s concerns at the time, the incident was in fact reported on Spillman, albeit as a “wanted person.”
He also noted that the duty sergeant that same night filled out an affidavit for Cagle’s arrest for felony escape.
As for the decision not to broadcast the escape, Rosenow said the escapee was not a violent offender and, as a result, there was no need to institute a dragnet. A review of court records confirms that Cagle, 53, has a lengthy criminal history of shoplifting, misdemeanor traffic offenses and probation violations, but no felony history beyond drug possession.
Rosenow also voiced concerns that an escapee, even a nonviolent offender like Cagle, might be “adrenalined up” following a breakout and therefore could pose a safety risk for the lone patrol officer on duty that night.
“If he was a dangerous person, that’s different,” Rosenow said. “In this case, this is the way we chose to handle it. And it turned out OK. He’s back in custody. Nobody got hurt.”
Cagle is indeed back in custody, although he’s now an inmate at the Yakima County jail, where he faces a felony charge of second-degree escape.
He managed to stay on the lam for nearly a month, apparently because of a delay in getting a warrant, which was not issued until more than three weeks after his escape. By then, the Herald-Republic was already seeking the dispatch tape.
Rosenow denied rumors Wapato has had a number of escapes from the facility there, saying that while it’s true trustees sometimes walk away from work crews, there has been only one other escape, per se, since he took over the department in December 2011.
“We had a guy literally bolt out the door one day,” he said, adding, “I don’t know about other incidents before I got here.”
That could be in part because of the record-keeping and classification issue. Rosenow said the police department does not have an escape policy as it pertains to the jail.
A revamp of the department’s policies and procedures is already underway, he said.
“I’ll make sure we do an escape policy now that you’ve brought it up.”