SCOTT COUNTY, Mo. — A Scott County corrections officer was fired after an inmate escaped custody during a hospital visit, the sheriff’s office said.
Jail staff transported Kenneth Goeddert of Sikeston to a Cape Girardeau hospital for a medical complaint Aug. 31. Goeddert, who was being held on felony charges of resisting arrest and second-degree domestic assault, fled the hospital on foot, according to the sheriff’s office.
An internal review found the officer failed to properly restrain Goeddert and maintain constant visual observation of him while inside the hospital, Sheriff Derick Wheetley said in a Facebook post. The sheriff said those policy violations contributed to the escape.
The officer was fired Sept. 1.
Investigators reviewed hospital security footage showing Goeddert running from the building. The sheriff’s office said he removed an IV from his arm and discarded a shirt near the hospital, which K-9 teams used to track him toward a wooded area.
A resident later spotted Goeddert attempting to conceal himself in a tree line near the resident’s backyard and contacted law enforcement. Officers took him into custody without incident.
Goeddert was subsequently charged in Cape Girardeau County with escape from custody, a Class E felony. He is being held without bond at the Scott County Jail.
