Guards to blame for escape from prison cell; allegations of manipulation by inmates dropped

Westmoreland County officials said Monday that guards failed to ensure the cell door was locked, a failure that led to an inmate's attempted escape earlier this month.

Three guards were fired by the prison board without an explanation for the reasons for the termination. Commissioner Doug Chew, who serves as chairman of the prison board, said the district does not comment on personnel matters.

The prison employs about 130 guards.

Warden Steve Pelesky said the results of a preliminary report incorrectly suggested that the inmate tampered with the cell door by stuffing paper into the locking mechanism, causing guards to believe the door was locked.

“There was no paper. It was an error on the part of the officers and they failed to check the door. The door was never fully secured,” Pelesky said.

Officials said John Michael Crowe, 37, of the village of Rillton in Sewickley Township, was walking out of his cell just after 3 a.m. on Aug. 12 when he confronted a guard and exchanged blows with him. The guard was not seriously injured and was back at work the next day, according to the prison warden.

County investigators charged Crowe with aggravated assault, simple assault and escape.

Authorities declined to say whether any of the guards were reprimanded or suspended as a result of the incident.

According to court records, Crowe has been in jail since January. In June, Crowe was sentenced to six to 23 months in prison for resisting arrest and public intoxication in North Huntingdon. Additional cases are pending, including charges of terroristic threats, simple assault, strangulation and harassment.

Pelesky said last week that paper stuffed into the door lock fooled the computer system that controls and monitors the facility's doors, causing it to falsely indicate that Crowe's cell was sealed. But he acknowledged that guards also failed to manually check that the door was properly locked.

Further investigation revealed that internal security controls never recorded Crowe's door as locked and that guards appeared to be violating prison security policies. He did not provide any information about what led to the initial tampering finding.

“When an officer comes on duty, the first thing they should do is make sure all the doors are locked,” Pelesky said. “Officers need to go around and check, pull on the doors to make sure they are locked,” Pelesky said.

Ryan Perry, president of United Mine Workers of America Local 522, which represents correctional officers at the prison, did not respond to a request for comment.

The prison can hold up to 700 inmates. On Monday, there were 586 inmates in the facility.

Officials declined to say whether any internal procedures were changed following the escape attempt. The prison board met behind closed doors for about an hour to discuss personnel issues and security concerns, Chew said.

Commissioner Ted Kopas cited safety concerns and said any changes to safety protocols would not be made public, but said the blame for the incident lies with the guards on duty.

“Officers have to follow the rules. They have to follow the rules at all times. Every correctional officer has to follow the rules,” Kopas said.