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Trumbull jail count leads to release of man with knife
By Ed Runyan
warren
The Trumbull County Jail’s current limits on accepting nonviolent prisoners allowed a man who police said had threatened restaurant workers with a knife to be released back into Liberty Township on Jan. 18.
The township police chief says, however, he’s never had any problem with the jail’s intake practices or decisions.
Luis A. Santos, 30, of Holly Drive was charged with misdemeanor inducing panic and disorderly conduct Jan. 18 after an 8:45 p.m. 911 call. The caller claimed Santos had grabbed a knife from the kitchen at El Jalapenos restaurant, 4055 Belmont Ave., and was threatening employees with it.
When officers arrived, Santos was walking with a large knife toward one man, who was running. Another man also was running away from Santos.
A Liberty officer blew his car’s air horn at Santos, and Santos threw the knife toward a snow bank. Santos obeyed the officer’s commands and was apprehended without incident. He had minor injuries to his hands and face, smelled of alcohol and screamed while being detained, police said.
Police determined Santos had become extremely drunk while in the restaurant, then grabbed the knife and threatened the staff with it. The staff members, who knew Santos because he had been employed there, refused to give statements to officers, police Chief Rich Tisone said.
Santos was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for his injuries and intoxication. Several hours later, when the hospital released him, police contacted the county jail to ask whether the jail would accept Santos.
After a discussion with the assistant warden about the jail’s being on Conditional Restrictions of Incarceration status and Santos’ case, Santos was released instead of taken to jail.
Santos did not appear for court Jan. 19, and a warrant was issued for his arrest through Girard Municipal Court.
“We definitely wanted him incarcerated,” Tisone said, but added, “That’s not our call.”
Eric Shay, assistant jail warden, said the CRI policy is in effect through Feb. 19 because of the number of inmates at the jail — currently 297.
The jail has a 314-prisoner capacity, but when the number reaches 282, the CRI policy goes into effect and usually lasts two weeks, Shay said.
The policy states that it was developed “to restrict the acceptance of prisoners for charges of [a] nonviolent nature. This policy will at no time restrict the incarceration of those being charged with any violent and/or victim-driven crime.”
Tisone said he considers “nonviolent” to be a subjective term. He said officers generally tell the jail official in charge at the time the details of the offense and the charges and leave the rest up to the jail official, adding, “We’ve never had problems with the county.”
Shay said he would have considered the Santos matter to be violent, so he doesn’t know why Santos was not taken that night to jail.
Shay added the policy should be flexible because some individuals need to be locked up even if their crime isn’t violent.
He gave the example of a suspect who commits a petty theft. That doesn’t qualify as a violent crime, but there are situations in which an officer is convinced that such a person is destined to go right back out and commit another offense.
“If somebody absolutely wanted to have someone in jail, we will take them into the jail,” Shay said. “There is supervisor discretion. You use discretion and common sense.”