Posted on 07/05/2002 2:06:47 PM PDT by 45Auto
Authorities are investigating the mistaken parole of a California Institution for Men inmate who went free despite an outstanding $1 million warrant for his arrest on charges of torture, kidnapping and sexual assault.
Prison officials said Wednesday that the June 22 release of Eric Charles Lewis was an error, but they still had not determined exactly how it occurred or what caused it.
''It's very rare that this type of incident happens,'' said CIM spokesman Lt. T.J. Padilla. ''For the most part we're very accurate on ensuring that this type of thing doesn't occur.''
Lewis, of Ontario, was re-arrested and booked into a San Bernardino County jail after he reported to his parole officer June 24, two days after the prison released him.
The parole officer called Ontario police, who rushed to the parole office and arrested Lewis.
Lewis, 51, was wanted by San Bernardino County authorities who believe he was one of three men who savagely beat a 35-year-old woman with fists and a baseball bat Dec. 26 in an attempt to torture information from her regarding their missing drugs.
According to court records, the men believed the woman had information about a half-pound of marijuana that disappeared from a storage area of Lewis' apartment in the 200 block of West F Street in Ontario.
Armed with guns, they picked her up off the street and took her to Lewis' apartment, where she was beaten. The woman suffered broken ribs, a broken leg, a collapsed lung and severe bruising.
Lewis, on parole for a previous conviction for heroin possession in San Bernardino County, was arrested Dec. 26 in connection with the assault and returned to state prison for violating the terms of his parole pending the filing of new criminal charges against him.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office charged him and two other men on Jan. 15 with torture, kidnapping and attempted sexual assault. A $1 million warrant was issued for the arrest of each of the three men.
Lewis remained behind bars at the California Institution for Men until last week, when he became eligible for parole again.
But instead of releasing him to the custody of the county in which he was wanted, as policy dictates for parolees with outstanding warrants, Lewis fell through the cracks and ended up back on the street.
Ontario police learned of his release and contacted his parole officer, Detective Mike Macias said. The parole officer called police when Lewis visited her, Macias said.
Padilla said checks and balances exist in the parole system to stop these types of mistakes, but he declined to say exactly how those safeguards failed in Lewis' case.
'We're still in the process of reviewing that to make sure this doesn't happen again,'' he said.
Padilla said it will take the prison up to two months to conduct the inquiry, which will include a review of its parole policies.
Russ Heimerich, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections in Sacramento, said Wednesday that Lewis had a medical condition that affected his status in the prison.
He said staffers likely made erroneous assumptions about Lewis based on that classification and failed to follow procedures and check his file before clearing the inmate for release.
''Not that it's an excuse,'' he said. ''There are certain procedures you have to follow, and you can't make any assumptions. It looks like the institution itself didn't do all the necessary checks.''
Heimerich said the prison's inquiry could have results ranging from the issuing of a memo clarifying policies to formal disciplinary actions against prison staff.
Padilla and Heimerich both said that they could not recall any incidents at any of the other 32 state prisons in which inmates with charges as severe as Lewis' were mistakenly released.
The Chino prison houses about 6,400 inmates despite being designed to hold less than half that many.
Chino police Sgt. Charles Sample said his department has not had any unusual problems with inmates paroled from the state prison. He said Chino police have no special concern about inmates being erroneously released into the community.
''I don't really know their system, but I imagine they will take every step possible to make sure they don't release persons who aren't supposed to be released,'' he said.
Lewis has a significant and increasingly serious criminal history, court records show.
In 10 previous criminal cases out of Pomona and Upland, he was sentenced to a total of more than three years in county jails and five years in state prison.
Most of those cases were drug- and theft-related.
Lewis remains in custody at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga in lieu of $1 million bail.
He is scheduled to return to court Monday for a preliminary hearing in the torture and kidnapping case.
Two other suspects, 42-year-old David Lee Kelly Jr. and 32-year-old Xavierre Dmawr Allen are still at large and wanted by Ontario police.
I feel so much better now. There are times when silence is better than the braying of an ass.
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