Last Updated on January 27, 2021, 8:52 PM | Published: January 27, 2021
In a news conference Wednesday, Oklahoma County Detention Center (Jail) administrator Greg Williams identified the cause of an escape early Wednesday morning as a procedural issue that will be corrected in the future.
Jesus Rubio was able to escape at 6:34 a.m. through one of the large garage-type doors left open on the jail sally port during a transfer of 11 detainees from the jail to state prison facilities after they had been sentenced.
Rubio was later caught about 7:30 a.m. near S.W. 35th Street and S. Western by Oklahoma City Police after he attempted to run from them first in a stolen vehicle and then on foot.
He is now back in the jail waiting for a decision from the Oklahoma County DA whether to file charges for the escape. Once that is decided then Rubio will be sent on to the Department of Corrections Williams said.
Open door
The sally port is designed as a drive-through shelter where the garage doors are normally lowered once a police/sheriff’s vehicle is inside to foil an escape attempt by a prisoner when being transferred between the vehicle and the booking area of the jail.
The entire purpose of a sally port is to stop a prisoner from breaking away or sneaking away as Williams said Rubio did.
Williams said that the staff executing the transfer were jail staff and not from another agency. He also agreed that it was a procedural issue that will need to be corrected going forward.
“We will go back through this as we check this,” said Williams. “And, we’ll go back through all the protocols in the incident as we get deeper and deeper into searching into this to determine really what were the shortfalls or what really were the things that contributed to this incident. We will address those. Absolutely.”
Williams said that there were “about three” staff who were handling the transfer which is the usual number.
30 years
According to jail spokesperson Mac Mullings in a news release, Rubio was on his way to serve a 30-year sentence in a state facility.
Rubio was sentenced by Judge Tim Henderson on November 13, 2020 after an Oklahoma County jury trial for felony kidnapping, domestic abuse-assault and battery (second offense), and violation of a protective order.
The statement said that Rubio’s jail shoes were discovered on a sidewalk after they began the search and his jail clothing was found at a nearby known address soon after.
The Oklahoma County Jail is no longer administered by the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office but by an administrator and staff hired by the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority or “Jail Trust.”
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
