Inmate back in custody after mistaken release from York County SC jail: Sheriff
.jpg "The York County Sheriff’s Office in York, South Carolina.")
Officers at the York County jail have taken a man back into custody after they mistakenly released him late Tuesday, the sheriff said.
John Michael Snipes turned himself in at the Moss Justice Center in York before 5 p.m. Wednesday, York County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Trent Faris said.
Officers mistakenly released Snipes, 40, around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday after what appeared to be human clerical error, York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said in a written statement released Wednesday.
A detention officer did not print sentencing documents concerning Snipes while a separate medical emergency was going on in the jail at the same time, according to the statement.
After realizing the mistake, deputies searched for Snipes in the area near the jail, which is located in the Moss Justice Center in York, west of Rock Hill.
Tolson said the sheriff’s office is looking into how the mistake happened.
“We are conducting a full investigation into what transpired so we can take corrective actions to ensure this mistake is not repeated,” Tolson said.
Snipes pleaded guilty earlier Tuesday in criminal court at the Moss center to a drug charge, according to deputies and court records. He was waiting to be transferred to to the S.C. Department of Corrections when the mistaken release happened, Tolson said in the statement.
The sheriff runs the jail that currently houses just over 500 people. The jail processes around 6,500 inmates in and out each year, officials said.
The county jail is already under an outside investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division after a 22-year-old man was found dead in his cell last week.
