THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 25, 1996 TAG: 9604250466
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
The Richmond Sheriff's Office apparently is having a hard time keeping track of inmate Thomas E. Wright.
Wright was left locked in a holding cell at the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on Friday when deputies apparently thought the prisoner had been transferred back to the City Jail.
It was not until 7:15 a.m. Monday - 60 hours later - that deputies found Wright in the cell, where he had spent the weekend confined without food.
Officials said they were investigating the situation.
When the Richmond Times-Dispatch asked to speak with Wright on Monday, jail officials said they would make him available. Wright had been sentenced Friday to three months in jail for failing to attend domestic-violence counseling required after he was convicted of assault and battery last June.
But after more than an hour of searching, deputies told a reporter that Wright had been let out the previous day on work release.
Sheriff Michelle B. Mitchell was unavailable for comment Tuesday. She issued a two-paragraph release saying the inmate was in good condition and that the matter was under investigation by internal affairs.
The officer in charge of internal affairs, Lt. A.E. Roehm, said he could not recall a similar situation. by CNB