Jailers
suspected of
stealing bail money
By Fred Mramor
of the Desert Journal
The
Sierra County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the apparent theft
of $1,241.61 in prisoners’ accounts and bail money from the county jail.
Jail
administrator Roy Bagwell reported the missing money to the Sheriff’s
Department on July 3. Bagwell said the money must have been removed from
the jail’s safe between June 30 and July 3, according to sheriff’s
deputy and investigating officer Dave Elston’s report.
Elston
was provided with a jailers’ work schedule for those days and was
informed by Bagwell that on occasions some off-duty detention officers
loiter at or visit the jail in the evenings.
Detention
Officer Jeff Fields told Elston that he has sometimes found off duty
jailers alone in the jail’s office while on-duty jailers were elsewhere
in the facility.
“At
this time all of the detention officers are possible suspects in this
case,” Elston said in his report.
Elston
interviewed nine jailers between July 11 and July 16. All jailers said
they had heard of the missing money but did not admit to taking it or
knowing who did. A tenth jailer was interviewed after July 16, according
to the Sheriff’s Department’s data entry officer.
The
first three interviewed jailers, when asked, said they would be willing to
undergo a polygraph examination.
Elston
did not indicate in his report if the other jailers were asked if they
would be willing to take a lie detector test or whether they offered to
take one.
The
jail administrator on Wednesday said he is working with the county manager
to see about administering the tests to suspected jailers.
No
arrests have been made in the continuing case.
Following
this incident, the jail no longer accepts cash but will take cashier’s
checks and money orders for bail and prisoners’ accounts.
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Jailer takes
‘unauthorized’
photos of female
inmates
Women moved
to
Socorro jail
By
Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal
A detention officer at the
Sierra County Detention Center has been suspended for five days without
pay for taking photos of female inmates without the approval of jail
administration.
Jail
administrator Roy Bagwell on July 2 reported to Sierra County Sheriff’s
Deputy Dave Elston that he had discovered digital photographs of female
inmates together and of individual shots in inmates’ outgoing mail.
Bagwell
told Elston he was initiating an internal investigation of the incident
and asked the Sheriff’s Department to conduct an investigation to
determine if any criminal activity existed.
Inmate
Catina Ford told Elston that on June 29 she had asked jailer Jerome
Bierner to photograph her. Ford said another detention officer, John
DeWitt, was aware of the unauthorized photo session.
Inmate
Amy Lamb told Elston she was “f----d up” when Bierner took her photo.
Lamb’s
statement prompted Elston to ask if she knew of anyone furnishing
contraband or illegal substances to inmates.
Lamb
said she had no such knowledge and that what she meant by her comment was
that she didn’t like her pose in the photo and that she was pregnant.
Ford
also told Elston she had no knowledge of anyone furnishing contraband or
illegal substances to inmates.
After
interviewing the inmates, Elston, with Bagwell’s concurrence, concluded
that no crime had been committed in the photo incident and pronounced the
case closed.
County
Manager Adam Polley said this week that since no crime had been committed
and because the photo shoot constituted only a violation of jail policy,
Detention Officer Bierner’s suspension without pay, rather than
dismissal, was the appropriate disciplinary action.
A
jail source this week said the women were photographed in their underwear;
the Sheriff’s Department’s data entry officer said they were
photographed in boxer shorts and T-shirts.
Polley
said only that the women were dressed but would not say to what extent.
The women, sources said, were not photographed in the shower as had been
rumored.
Bagwell
said Thursday all seven of the county’s female inmates are being housed
in the Socorro facility, partly to relieve the Sierra County Jail’s
overcrowded condition and to provide for better segregation between male
and female inmates.
The
jail administrator would neither confirm nor deny that the removal of all
of the county’s female prisoners was the result of the photo incident.
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