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Youngstown man re-arrested and returned to prison following accidental release
YOUNGSTOWN
Antwan Napier was mistakenly released from prison earlier this week and made his way back to Youngstown.
He since has been re-arrested and returned to Lorain Correctional Institution to serve a seven-year sentence for felonious assault.
There were no reports of additional crimes committed by Napier, 25, during the three days he was free.
He was sent back to the state prison Thursday after a short stay in Mahoning County jail.
In 2010, Napier had been serving a three-year term of probation for carrying a concealed weapon when he was accused of pistol whipping two women at a South Side home. The court revoked his probation and sent him to prison for 15 months.
Napier later pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault in the pistol whipping and was sentenced to seven years in prison. A paperwork mixup, however, allowed Napier to be released from prison at the end of the 15-month sentence and before the start of his seven-year term.
Court representatives said Napier was released from Lorain on July 15 and made his way back to Youngstown.
One of the victims of the pistol whipping, a sister of the mother of Napier’s children, received word Napier was back in town and trying to take custody of his kids while the mother was at church. He collected the 6-year-old and 1-year-old children from a baby sitter.
“They called and told me he was there, and I kept saying it can’t be him because he is in jail, but they told me it was definitely him,” the woman said. “This whole thing was just crazy.”
The victim said she called police and court authorities to inquire as to how Napier was free and on the streets.
Maj. Alki Santamas of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department got a call Monday from the court concerning Napier. The Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force and Mahoning Valley Violent Crime Task Force immediately began looking for him, he said.
Santamas said Napier was found at a home in the 600 block of McBride Street on the East Side. He attempted to run out of a back door at the home, but police with police dogs chased Napier and took him into custody.
Court representatives said Napier was released last Friday, and prison officials learned of the mistake Monday.