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‘Design flaw’ in jail aided 1st escape?

Head Fayette County jailer Robert Glaze explains how aluminum straps holding a fence roof above the jail’s exercise yard in place were broken by an escaping inmate. Photo/Beth Snipes.
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Jail officials say a design flaw in the construction of the exercise yard’s overhead fence aided the escape of a convicted felon who slithered out of the Fayette County Jail the evening of Jan. 5.

Timothy Allen Harrison, a convicted burglar who was being held at the jail on weapon, drug and traffic charges since Dec. 10, shimmied up a basketball pole in the yard and pried a hole in the overhead fence to escape.

A fence laced with just one strand of razor wire lined the jail’s perimeter, but it’s unclear just how Harrison, a 36-year-old Senoia man, got around the fence without leaving a shred of evidence.

Maj. Robert Glaze, the jail director, and other officials at the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, have turned their attention to the jail’s construction and a slew of other factors trying to piece together just what went wrong on the day of Harrison’s escape.

The Harrison escape was the first successful jail break since the new state-of-the-art facility opened its doors roughly three years ago.

“We believe there are some construction flaws or oversights regarding the fence over top of the exercise yards, in regards to the way the fence is tied down or held in place,” Glaze said.

Ray Bell Construction officials built the facility that can hold a maximum of 384 inmates. Officials from the Fayetteville-based Mallett Consulting and Associates are the go-betweens for the county and the construction firm.

David Yeager of Mallett Consulting was unavailable for comment.

Jail officials first discovered the construction oversight when inmates broke some of the aluminum tie-straps with a basketball, Glaze said.

“We had asked them to replace all of the aluminum ties,” Glaze said. “We knew they replaced some of the aluminum ties, but there was a question of whether the spacing was too far apart.”

A representative from Mallett Consulting came out to investigate. He disputed the claim that the fence was unsecured until he jumped up and down on the fence to illustrate the claim. The fence buckled, Glaze indicated.

“We’re looking at all options to secure the top of the exercise yard, whether steel grate or expanded metal with a diamond-shaped pattern,” Glaze said.

In addition, to the construction oversight, Glaze indicated the jail deputy charged with watching the inmate should have worked harder to ensure the inmate didn’t have the time to stand on the basketball goal and escape. Harrison also eluded video cameras at the jail.

It’s unclear how long the inmate, who likely fled in a waiting pickup truck, was out of sight of jail officials. Officials discovered his disappearance around 9 p.m. Jan. 5. Those responsible for the error could face disciplinary action.

“[The jailer] did a head-count at the beginning of his shift. He did an informal count at meal time and when he took the trays back, but I don’t think he did a count when the inmates returned from the exercise yard,” Glaze said. “The counting is an issue that we need to look at. We need to look at the way we are operating the housing units. We need to vary our routine.”

While he strongly criticized the deputy in charge of Harrison, Glaze said he understands how challenging it is to keep an accurate count of the inmates. One deputy at the jail is charged with watching about 48 inmates at one time. That number could jump as high as about 60, Glaze added.

“Jail counts can change every few minutes,” he said. “Ten or 30 people are booked in here a day and most of them go home. They make bond.”

Glaze said the escape response plan at the jail used to search for Harrison worked well; he just hoped the inmate was back in their custody.

Glaze said he never tried to keep the information from the public. Around 1 a.m. Dec. 6, Glaze said he prepared a press release. Only one media outlet called about it around 2 a.m. In retrospect, Glaze said the media should have been called.

Glaze said he regrets the incident and he wants the public to know he is addressing the problem.

He said the exercise yards will be closed until further notice and all basketball goals will be taken down.

“I hate that this happened and we are trying to do all we can to learn from this and do all we can so that this never happens again,” Glaze said.

Fayette Democratic legislators press for change to district vote

By J. FRANK LYNCH

jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

The first of three public meetings planned to get feedback on a proposal to do away with at-large voting in Fayette County elections has been scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. at North Fayette Elementary School, 609 Kenwood Rd., Fayetteville.

The discussion will piggyback the regular monthly meeting of the North Fayette Community Association, an organization of mostly black homeowners founded in 2001 out of concern they weren’t being fairly served by county government.

Rep. Virgil Fludd of Tyrone, a Democrat from the 66th District and chairman of the county’s seven-member legislative delegation, is a former president of the North Fayette Community Association.

He said two more meetings are planned, one somewhere in south Fayette and another in Peachtree City, but details are still being worked out.

While public opinion has yet to be heard on the issue, members of the county delegation continued to weigh in as the legislature opened this week.

Fludd and fellow Democrats representing Fayette say that without district voting, the chances of a minority or female candidate winning countywide office are slim. Splitting the county into districts, they say, would help the odds for a minority candidate.

Instead of five candidates voted on at-large countywide, each candidate would be elected solely by the voters from within his or her own district.

The change would presumably apply to both County Commission and Board of Education races, Fludd and others say.

“This is one of the issues that I heard about the most while campaigning,” said Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam of the 74th District, which starts northwest of Fayetteville and stretches north into Clayton County.

“I understand what the potential positives are to district voting,” she said. “There could be some better equality here, yes. But I also have to realize what the will of the people is.”

That sentiment is shared by the two Republican newcomers to the delegation, Rep. Dan Lakly of Peachtree City and Sen. Ronnie Chance of Tyrone.

Both men say they willing to consider district voting, but stand firm against the idea of doing anything that doesn’t reflect the desire of Fayette voters.

“Unless this is presented as the will of the people, I won’t support it,” Lakly said.

Said Chance, “I wasn’t elected to tell the County Commission what they must do, especially when that decision will affect the people who elected me the most.”

Both Lakly and Chance said they’ll be at the Jan. 22 meeting.

There is uncertainty that the issue would be seriously considered by the legislature at large if all seven members of the Fayette delegation aren’t behind it. Democrats hold a 4-3 majority in Fayette, and that’s enough for Fludd.

“If the local delegation supports it, the General Assembly will go along with it,” Fludd argued. “But I’d hope the delegation would be unanimously behind it.”

Meanwhile, the president of the Fayette County branch of the NAACP expressed concern about the potential division a drawn-out angry debate might create.

“We want to do what’s best for the community,” said the Rev. Ed Johnson, pastor of Flat Rock AME Church. “We want to make sure Fayette County remains progressive and harmonious for all our residents. We don’t want this seen as setting boundaries, especially boundaries set by race.”

The NAACP hasn’t taken a position on the matter, Johnson said, but he knew that “intelligent discussions” and “an open mind” would prove more productive for both sides. Said Johnson, “You can get more bees with honey than you can with vinegar.”