Thursday, May 06, 1999
Rooftop hop ends with return to jail
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — When jail escapee Donald Wagner finally climbed off the roof of a Covington home Wednesday morning and surrendered to police, the father of his girlfriend gave him an earful.
“That's the one smart move I've seen you make,” shouted Henry Barrett, as Mr. Wagner was escorted to a police van about 10:15 a.m.
It was 13 hours after Mr. Wagner, 32, of Cincinnati, walked away from the Kenton County Jail. He was in street clothes and part of a work detail that was painting the steps outside the jail.
Mr. Wagner's escape from a work detail was the second within a month at the jail. On April 15, Matthew Hamilton, 20, of Covington left laundry duty unnoticed. .
He remains at large.
Another inmate escaped in February while taking out the garbage. He was captured 12 hours later.
The most recent escape is causing jail officials to alter policies. Effective immediately, prisoners on work details will wear bright orange jumpsuits.
Kenton County Jailer Terry Carl also promises to keep them in smaller groups, so they can be closely moni tored.
“When you've got a number of prisoners, and they don't work in one area, it's hard to keep an eye on them,” Mr. Carl said.
The jail has 32 trusties, considered the least likely to escape.
Mr. Wagner had been in jail since December 1997 for wanton endangerment and probation violation from a burglary conviction.
Mr. Wagner had been talking about escaping the jail for a while, Tammy Barrett said Wednesday, after Mr. Wagner was driven away.
She had advised him not to. But he knocked on her father's door in the 400 block of East 16th Street about 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Jail personnel received an anonymous tip that he was there and arrived on the doorstep about 8:15 a.m., said a jail spokesman. Mr. Wagner rushed to the roof from the second-floor apartment and jumped two roofs.
Covington police and fire units responded. A ladder was placed alongside the house and police began negotiations. Mr. Wagner was given cigarettes and a cellular phone before he agreed to surrender.
He now faces a charge of felony escape and a possibility of one to five years in a state prison.
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