THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170182
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The Department of Corrections has blamed a security lapse at the Greensville Correctional Center for the brief escape of an inmate and the subsequent stabbing of a Chesapeake deputy two weeks ago.
Corrections spokeswoman Amy Miller said proper procedures were not followed when Greensville Correctional Center inmate William L. Griffin, 22, was turned over from that facility to Chesapeake deputies for transportation to Circuit Court for a probation-violation hearing Oct. 31.
Griffin somehow smuggled a makeshift knife undetected into the Chesapeake courthouse, officials said. While Miller said the security breakdown happened at the Greensville facility, she would not say if Griffin had the knife in that prison.
``The evidence that came up in investigation gave us some information, but not all of it,'' Miller said. ``The specifics of how, where and when the implement was obtained we are not commenting on because of security reasons and because the evidence is not absolutely conclusive. The investigation did show certain aspects of security procedures were not as thoroughly conducted by (Department of Corrections) staff as they should have been.''
Inside the Chesapeake courthouse, Griffin allegedly freed himself and stabbed deputy Roger Rosenberry in the throat.
Rosenberry shot Griffin in the chest. Griffin is recovering in the prison's infirmary. Rosenberry needed 17 stitches to close the wound and is back at work.
Chesapeake Sheriff's Office spokesman John Downs said Thursday the city's deputies fulfilled their obligations during the transportation and incarceration of Griffin.
``The official departmental stand is that we know how, and when, and the manner in which he got the items. However, we are not going to comment on it,'' Downs said. ``The procedures to our satisfaction were followed.''
Downs said Griffin was thoroughly searched at least twice - when Chesapeake deputies took custody of him at the Greensville facility and again when Griffin was put into the Chesapeake jail. At least one of those searches was a strip search.
He said the deputies had no way a detecting the items Griffin apparently smuggled out of the prison.
A deputy, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Griffin apparently hid a key and knife in a body cavity.
Downs said in his two decades working with prisoners, he has seen often unbelievable ways inmates have hidden or ingested weapons to escape detection. But he would not say how Griffin allegedly hid the knife.
Downs said inmates often occupy idle time by crafting ways to smuggle items in or out of a secure facility to fashion escapes.
``I've know of instances where inmates have wrapped weapons in wadded toilet paper and later thrown them up. They can be extremely creative,'' Downs said. ``Sometimes, even when every single procedure is followed to the letter, it still can have adverse or tragic consequences,'' Downs said.
The Chesapeake deputies were sent to Greensville on a court order to pick up Griffin for a probation-violation hearing, Downs said. The inmate was searched at that facility, transported in a sheriff's department sedan, and searched again at the jail.
The next day on the way to court, Griffin broke free.
Griffin was charged with attempted capital murder of a law-enforcement officer. He was serving 20 years for a long list of charges including grand larceny, robbery and firearms violations. Griffin also has a lengthy juvenile record, police said.
Miller, the corrections spokeswoman, said a report on the incident was being sent to the Greensville prison warden.
KEYWORDS: ESCAPED PRISONER by CNB