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Man escapes from CCI
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| An officer with the Department of Corrections searches for William Steele, 36, off U.S. Highway 90. Steele, a Columbia County Institution inmate, escaped from a work detail Tuesday afternoon. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
Authorities: The inmate could be with a woman on his visiting list.
By TONY BRITT
tbritt@lakecityreporter.com
Department of Corrections officials have launched a manhunt for an inmate who walked away from a mowing detail at the Columbia Correctional Insti-tution and Work Camp Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities are searching for William Steele, 36.
Department of Corrections spokesperson Gretl Plessinger said Steele was working on an inmate work camp mowing crew which is allowed to go outside the fence to work. She said Steele was the only inmate who attempted to escape from the mowing detail.
“He was outside on a mowing crew around the Columbia (Correctional Institute) annex and escaped around 12:50 p.m.,” she said.
At least 10 Department of Corrections vans were parked at strategic locations along U.S. Highway 90 east of CCI for six miles back to the Lake City Airport around 5 p.m. In addition, K-9 units and personnel patrolled the roadway in slow-moving white vans. Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission crews also aided in the search.
Steele is a minimum custody inmate and is serving a four-year sentence for charges from Bradford and St. Johns counties for burglary, grand theft and fleeing and eluding. He has worked on a prison work detail since November 2007.
Steele is described as a white male, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 176 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Late Tuesday evening Plessinger said authorities believe Steele is in the Jacksonville area.
“Evidence obtained so far in the investigation revealed Steele maybe with Kimberly Reigner,” said Plessinger, who described Reigner as Steele’s acquaintance. “She was on his visiting list.”
They may be driving a 2004, silver Jeep with Florida license plate W215JG.
Steele has been housed in the Columbia Correctional Institute and Work Camp since November 2007.
Plessinger said Department of Corrections officials are uncertain how Steele managed to escape.
“That’s what we’re looking at now, but he was outside the perimeter,” she said.
Plessinger said Steele is a work camp inmate and work camp inmates are allowed to work outside the facility’s perimeter.
“Work camp inmates are lower custody and they can be outside the perimeter doing work,” she said. “Some work camp inmates are in the communities doing work like picking up trash along the side of the road. This particular inmate was outside the Columbia Correctional Institute annex mowing. He was outside the institution, but still on institutional property.”
The CCI state prison facility is on U.S. Highway 90 east, about 10 miles east of Lake City. The facility was established in 1992 and houses adult male inmates.
The institution houses all custody levels with the exception of death-row inmates.
However, Steele came from the work camp which is a minimum or community level custody, the lower levels of custody for inmates, which means he was allowed to go outside the fence.
“The last time we had a work camp escape was in November in the Jacksonville area,” said she. “They escaped one morning and were caught that night.”
Anyone who has seen Steele is advised to call local law enforcement or the Department of Corrections at (850) 922-6867.
Authorities are searching for William Steele, 36.
Department of Corrections spokesperson Gretl Plessinger said Steele was working on an inmate work camp mowing crew which is allowed to go outside the fence to work. She said Steele was the only inmate who attempted to escape from the mowing detail.
“He was outside on a mowing crew around the Columbia (Correctional Institute) annex and escaped around 12:50 p.m.,” she said.
At least 10 Department of Corrections vans were parked at strategic locations along U.S. Highway 90 east of CCI for six miles back to the Lake City Airport around 5 p.m. In addition, K-9 units and personnel patrolled the roadway in slow-moving white vans. Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission crews also aided in the search.
Steele is a minimum custody inmate and is serving a four-year sentence for charges from Bradford and St. Johns counties for burglary, grand theft and fleeing and eluding. He has worked on a prison work detail since November 2007.
Steele is described as a white male, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 176 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Late Tuesday evening Plessinger said authorities believe Steele is in the Jacksonville area.
“Evidence obtained so far in the investigation revealed Steele maybe with Kimberly Reigner,” said Plessinger, who described Reigner as Steele’s acquaintance. “She was on his visiting list.”
They may be driving a 2004, silver Jeep with Florida license plate W215JG.
Steele has been housed in the Columbia Correctional Institute and Work Camp since November 2007.
Plessinger said Department of Corrections officials are uncertain how Steele managed to escape.
“That’s what we’re looking at now, but he was outside the perimeter,” she said.
Plessinger said Steele is a work camp inmate and work camp inmates are allowed to work outside the facility’s perimeter.
“Work camp inmates are lower custody and they can be outside the perimeter doing work,” she said. “Some work camp inmates are in the communities doing work like picking up trash along the side of the road. This particular inmate was outside the Columbia Correctional Institute annex mowing. He was outside the institution, but still on institutional property.”
The CCI state prison facility is on U.S. Highway 90 east, about 10 miles east of Lake City. The facility was established in 1992 and houses adult male inmates.
The institution houses all custody levels with the exception of death-row inmates.
However, Steele came from the work camp which is a minimum or community level custody, the lower levels of custody for inmates, which means he was allowed to go outside the fence.
“The last time we had a work camp escape was in November in the Jacksonville area,” said she. “They escaped one morning and were caught that night.”
Anyone who has seen Steele is advised to call local law enforcement or the Department of Corrections at (850) 922-6867.
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| Café owner plans protest | Citizen wants swift sign removal following elections |
common sense wrote on Aug 6, 2008 8:44 AM:
I guess the people we vote for made that decision. "