Last Updated on December 5, 2023, 9:39 PM | Published: December 5, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — Two detainees were released from the Oklahoma County Detention Center (Jail) when they should not have been over the last several days.
As of the last report from Jail spokesperson Mark Opgrande on Tuesday, one had been returned to custody and the other had not.
On Monday, December 4, 2023, at approximately 2:20 p.m. Devonne Sias, 27, was mistakenly released from jail custody. Sias accomplished the release by impersonating the person who was supposed to be released.
The releasing clerk failed to perform proper procedures to confirm the individual’s identity according to Opgrande.
Sias had not been captured as of 4 pm Tuesday.
Another mistake led to the release of Joshua Hardeman, 40, on Saturday due to what Opgrande termed a “clerical error.”
Complaints against Hardeman were dismissed but jail staff failed to catch that Hardeman had an outstanding warrant that should have kept him in custody.
According to Opgrande, the Oklahoma City Police were able to arrest Hardeman Monday afternoon. He has been booked back into the jail.
“These incidents were not due to the newly implemented release procedures but to a series of staff errors,” read a news release from the Jail administration. “The Oklahoma County Detention Center is conducting a comprehensive internal investigation to understand the root cause of the incidents and to implement additional safeguards to prevent similar errors in the future.”
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
