A pair of former Huron County Jail inmates, who took it upon themselves to jump from high locations at the facility and cause serious harm to their own bodies, are about to receive another dose of bad pain.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Norwalk Law Director Stuart O'Hara was completing the final paperwork to file the felony charges of escape and inducing panic against both Daniel Legg, 23, of 20 Mill St., and Emery Slone, 29, of rural Willard.
Huron County Sheriff Dane Howard said there have been seven jail jumpers since 2009.
"We will get this under control," the sheriff said. "We are very enthusiastically looking for charges on these individuals.
"These were very obvious attempts to get out of the facility and they succeeded," Howard said, adding they will face felony counts for their efforts.
Lt. Chris Stanfield said when Legg "jail jumped," it was pre-planned.
"He had confided to his mother and aunt he was going to do it," Stanfield said.
"This was just a bizarre effort to escape," Howard added. "We're hopeful charges stops this from happening."
Howard said recent medical bills from jail jumpers have totaled $12,000 and that figure doesn't include surgeries.
"We, the taxpayers, are responsible for those bills," the sheriff said.
One of the recent jail jumpers dropped 20 feet to a concrete floor.
"It was a crushing blow," Howard said. "We're going to respond to this in the appropriate fashion, request charges and curb this behavior. ... These people who do this don't think correctly."
Howard said other jails are experiencing similar problems.
The sheriff said when these jail jumpers injure themselves, they're really stealing from the taxpayers.
"We're working on a way to charge them back for their medical bills," he said.
Copyright 2013 - Norwalk Reflector, Ohio
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
