Fla. prison transport officer, inmate killed in crash

By Martha Sanchez
The Sun Herald

JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. — Authorities have identified the inmate and officer killed after a utility vehicle and prisoner transport van collided Wednesday morning (Feb. 18) on Interstate 10 near Ocean Springs.

The crash killed 32-year-old Michael Valera and 34-year-old William Rodman, according to Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr.

Valera, the officer, was a young father and husband from central Florida, according to his employer and the coroner.

Rodman, the inmate, had been released from jail in Lake City, Florida, and was being extradited to Spaulding County, Georgia on fraud charges, according to the transport company and the coroner.

The two-vehicle crash around 9:30 a.m. flipped the prisoner transport van and caught it on fire, according to Landon Orozco, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

Authorities said two inmates and two officers were inside the van, which came from a detention center in Daytona Beach, Florida, and was operated by a private company called St. Joseph Services. The company contracts with law enforcement agencies to extradite inmates around the country.

Tony Seitez, a contract manager at the company, said the officers were driving the transport van from Florida to extradite another inmate from the Harrison County jail.

The other officer and inmate inside the van were hospitalized in critical condition, the company said. Authorities said the utility van’s driver was also injured.

Neither inmate was accused of violent crimes. The transport company said the deceased inmate was accused of fraud through counterfeit checks. The injured inmate was accused of fleeing law enforcement, among other charges, according to Seitez. The company was transporting them to Georgia and New Jersey to face charges.

Both inmates were shackled and handcuffed in a compartment separate from the officers, according to the company.

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