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OBSERVER file photo
A recent jail escape was discussed at the county Public Safety Committee.
MAYVILLE – Last month, an inmate attempted to escape by jumping from the roof of the Chautauqua County Jail but was quickly captured.
Since then, improvements have been made to the jail and the state Commission of Corrections have been reviewing the jail to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.
Last week, the legislature’s Public Safety Committee met in executive session with Sheriff Jim Quattrone. He cited New York state’s Open Meetings Law section 105 which permits executive session for matters in which will imperil public safety if disclosed.
On Monday, Sheriff Jim Quattrone confirmed the escape was one of the topics discussed.
He said he is limited on what he can say, other than that there was one area of weakness that was rectified.
“There was one area of Concertina (razor) wire that was not properly anchored. Our maintenance staff have made sure that’s no longer an issue,” he said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, on July 11 at 12:30 p.m., Eric Ryals, who is an incarcerated individual of the county jail, gained access to the rooftop of the jail and ran from corrections officers who were actively pursuing him, calling for him to surrender.
Ryals allegedly ignored the officers’ commands and jumped from the roof of the jail. He exited the facility when he landed on the lawn, on the Elm Street side of the facility. Ryals was quickly taken into custody, as a perimeter had been set up surrounding the jail. Ryals was transported to Erie County Medical Center for treatment of injuries sustained during his escape.
Quattrone also praised his staff for capturing the escaped inmate within minutes of him jumping off the rooftop. “Our COs (corrections officers) did a great job of keeping the incarcerated individual contained and other staff informed,” he said.
Quattrone also said the state Commissioner of Corrections would be visiting sometime this week to tour the jail. He said the visit is simply part of her effort to visit every jail in the state and was not connected to the escape.
He did say the commission has all the documentation of last month’s escape and will eventually be getting back to the county. “We do anticipate that with the measures we took that it will be a closed case,” he said.
