Deputies suspended for roles in escape

9/30/2006

Two Lucas County sheriff s deputies and a corrections officer were suspended for allowing a suspected bank robber to escape from the county jail.

Sheriff s Deputy Hank Lewis and Corrections Officer Vincent Whitacre were suspended for 60 days for neglect of duty and sheriff s deputy Lisa Edmondson for five days for "any just cause" after an investigation into the Aug. 21 escape of inmate Robert Harris, according to Jon Rogers, the sheriff s director of internal affairs.

Harris, 29, escaped from the Lucas County jail between 1:30 and 2:40 p.m. after picking up a set of keys, including a master key, in the jail module where he had been confined.

He allegedly robbed a bank on Lagrange Street at 2:43 p.m. and was arrested without incident the next day at a home on Division Street.

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