Jail officials feared an escapee was on the loose on Halloween night when a former inmate was spotted trick-or-treating in his orange prison jumpsuit, authorities said.
A corrections officer spotted the former inmate, Oscar Aponte, 32, going house to house with his son in his hometown of Peekskill, north of New York City.
The officer alerted the Westchester County Jail and the prison was locked down while all inmates were accounted for, said Susan Tolchin, chief adviser to the county executive.
Authorities believed the former inmate smuggled the orange jumpsuit out of the jail when he was released in September after a four-month stay for a probation violation.
“It was a really poor choice of costume,” Tolchin said. “We’re investigating how he got it out because when they are discharged they leave with their belongings in a clear plastic bag.”
You have to admit the dude has a great sense of humor — even if he ain’t too bright.
Aponte has been charged with petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property for taking the jumpsuit.
The only thing “petty” is that they are charging him with something because they over-reacted….
Did the officer truly believe he had one of those “dumb crook of the week” contestants on his hands? Or a crook with “Big Brass ones…”?
Did he question the guy wearing the suit – to assertain where he got it, and whether his explanation was credible – before alerting the prison?
If the answer was: “I found it in the bushes, and thought it would be a cute costume” – then you would alert the prison.
If the answer was an honest: “I kept it when I was released” – then there would have been no lock-down, and probably no charges filled.
Will the idiots who let him smuggle something out of prison face any disiplinary action? I wonder how good a job they are doing keeping items from being smuggled into the prison.
Not surprising. Don’t think that Inmates are dumb. They are stinking ingenious.
#1 – absolutely! Or, to summarize your comments, “CYA is rampant in Westchester”
Mike Voice speaks with wisdom – Listen to him….
It seems America is becoming a place where we go out of our way to find reasons to punish people. If something isn’t illegal now, we’ll find a way to make it illegal. In this case, we are looking for a way to punish a guy who was wearing an orange jumpsuit.
And before some right wing loon from Loonbatville starts barking about how it was his tax dollars that bought the jumpsuit… Bill me. I got this one.
Much ado about nothing. I disagree it was a stupid costume, that is what Halloween is about. He is only being charged to make the cop look better for his over reaction.
Thats hilarious.
Jesus Dawkins, they’re going to send him back to prison for a joke!
Why don’t we just set the country up as a giant open air-prison and be done with it?
Fire that policeman for wasting tax payer dollars. I don’t care what his situation is.
And quit crying because someone who was supposed to be subserviant and dumb outsmarted the whole police unit.
Finally a group of commenter who actually make sense. This is the type of jury our justice system needs.
Why are so many people so eager to bash the cops? First of all, the article states that it was a corrections officer, as in someone who works at a prison or jail, not a police officer who alerted the jail.
Secondly, if you see somebody outside of prison wearing something that is only supposed to be availabe inside of prison, is it not logical to suppose that maybe they belong inside of prison as well? And I would think that it is probably far more prudent to immediately lock down the jail when there is a suspicion of breakout, rather than waiting until the person has been questioned and giving any actual escapee that much more of a head start.
Thirdly, if the man actually was an escaped inmate, would you expect him to be forthcoming about that fact? Your belief in the inherent honesty of mankind is noble #1, but I fear that not everyone may hold to such high standards of truthfulness as you.
Fourthly, if you feel the guards at the prison should be held responsible for the inmate stealing the jumpsuit, do you also feel that a convenience store clerk should be punished for their store being robbed? Should a woman be blamed for allowing herself to be raped? I feel your logic is flawed. Perhaps the guards were not as thorough in their duties as they should have been, but the responsibility for the crime still lies with the person that commited the crime.
Fifthly, why is it petty for the man to be charged with comitting a crime, which he did do. It is the job of the police force to enforce the laws. Would you prefer for them to not do their jobs? Perhaps they should spend more time drinking coffee and eating doughnuts? If you feel the law is petty, take it up with the local legislature, who are responsible for creating the laws, not the cop who is just doing his job.
I now go to cower in fear as I await the frequenters of this forum to wither me with their superior powers of rhetoric and logic. Please kind masters, don’t be too hard on me.
I now go to cower in fear as I await the frequenters of this forum to wither me with their superior powers of rhetoric and logic. Please kind masters, don’t be too hard on me.
Comment by joeblow42 — 11/4/2006 @ 4:56 am
I’ll try to be gentle, dear friend. You did make some very well argued points. Your argument fails on a couple of levels though.
First, although a petty crime, there is something called discretion, by the courts, police, and society. As a matter of necessity, our society would be overwhelmed if every single infraction were held to account by police and sentenced by the courts. We expect a certain amount of give and acceptance for other’s transgressions. That is what makes this so trivial a matter.
It was Halloween night. People are dressed up in costumes to hide their identity. Reason suggests that if someone just broke out of a jail, they would be trying to hide from law enforcement, not walking the streets dressed in the same outfit the police are now searching for. Apparently he was not trying to hide or be suspicious, just accompanying his young child.
True, he should not have taken the jumpsuit from the jail. Is that a reasonable crime to charge him with though? How about a policeman or prison guard who wears his uniform home from work? Is he not using the uniform to clothe himself which the taxpayer will have to pay for? Sure that is a petty suggestion, but not that far stretched from charging this guy for theft.
No, convenience store clerks should not be charged if someone robs them. Simply because their job entails ringing up purchases, not stopping robbers. As law enforcement though, the guards that didn’t search his belongings failed in their duties. He could have been smuggling a letter out to an inmate’s accomplice for an escape. To make any comparison between a crime victim and someone NOT doing their job is just plain wrong.
Now, considering that a guard didn’t perform their duty and the possible consequence of that, why isn’t any guard being punished? That is criminal negligence and actually can make the officer an accomplice to the theft. I suggest it is because of that “protect each other, thin blue line” mentality that pervades the whole law enforcement system.
This isn’t cop bashing. It is suggesting that there were overreactions to something inconsequential.
i bet he got a lot of comments on how realistic his costume was…
10 if you see somebody outside of prison wearing something that is only supposed to be availabe inside of prison, is it not logical to suppose that maybe they belong inside of prison as well?
I apparently put more emphasis on the “maybe” part than the corrections officer did.
But again, did he really think an inmate smart enough to plan and execute a break-out from prison would be that stupid?? or that ballsy? He broke out of prison just to take his kid trick-or-treating? And didn’t have time to ditch the coveralls? He’s swaggering down the sidewalk, laughing to himself about how stupid the cops are?
10 it is probably far more prudent to immediately lock down the jail when there is a suspicion of breakout
Costume shops sell cheapo, “prisoner” jumpsuits for Holloween. I wish I knew how close that officer checked to see if it really was the real thing, and not a well-made imitation. Since the guy did spend 4-months wearing it on the inside, he – or anyone else who has done time – could probably make a “convincing” copy if they wanted to.
10 rather than waiting until the person has been questioned and giving any actual escapee that much more of a head start.
First you assume the person wearing the jumpsuit is the escapee, now you assume he is a distraction from the actual escape.
If he is not a dumb escapee, he might actually be an honest citizen – what are the odds? – who would give you a straight answer regarding where he got the suit. Wouldn’t that be useful information in tracking the path of the escapee – instead of just “locking the barn door after the horse has already bolted”?
10 Your belief in the inherent honesty of mankind…
You must not know me very well. 🙂
But, you’re right – I wasn’t thinking about the guy being “just” a corrections officer [whatever those duties are]. I was thinking of the built-in bullshit detector that most cops have developed.
10 do you also feel that a convenience store clerk should be punished for their store being robbed? Should a woman be blamed for allowing herself to be raped?
Yes, of course! Doesn’t everybody!? 😉
Tip-o’-the-hat to Mr Fusion, who answered you without any sarcasm.
10 I feel your logic is flawed.
I assume you therefore disagree with the county executive’s spokesperson: “We’re investigating how he got it out because…
Why investigate how the crime was committed if the perpetrator has already been caught?
10 It is the job of the police force to enforce the laws.
Yes it is. I am just glad there is also a District Attorney involved who gets to decide what charges, if any, will be prosecuted. And a hearing – if things go that far – to decide if the punishment matches the crime.
Mr. Fusion; I don’t disagree with you about the pettiness of the law, however I do disagree with your comments about using discretion in enforcement of the laws. I think that if you tell police officers to use discretion in matters of the law you create a very slippery slope to things such as discrimination, bribery, and corruption. You create officers whose discretion is influenced by a timely $20 bill or by their bias against Mexicans. The equality of the justice system becomes compromised. Thus, I must mantain that the pettiness of the law is a legislative, rather than an enforcement, issue.
With regards to your comments about the guard being punished, you make two assumptions that I feel need to be examined. First, you assume that the guards were negligent in their duties to search the prisoner. However, the article doesn’t make any comment about that one way or the other. They could have been negligent, or perhaps they did their duties and the prisoner simply found a way around the system. With the information provided, we have to assume that either situation is equally plausible. Secondly, you assume that no guard is going to be punished. Again, the article makes no mention of this issue. However, I would assume that, even if the guard is not formally reprimanded, this is the kind of thing that would be brought up in their performance review. I also find it somewhat ironical that you advocate police letting certain things slide while at the same time indicting the guard for not doing his job thoroughly enough.
#13 – I just want to point out a couple of quick things. First I believe it makes perfect sense to “close the barn door after the horse has bolted” if you still have other horses in the barn. Secondly, I think one very good reason to investigate how a crime was committed after the perpetrator has already been caught is to prevent the crime from happening again. To go back to your barn analogy, you can catch the horse and put him back in the barn, but if you don’t investigate to learn that the barn door is still open, it’s not going to do you much good. I apologize if you found my previous post overly sarcastic and I hope you find this one to be more palatable.
#14, joe
Discretion is extremely important in day to day society and especially in law enforcement. If, in this little burg I live in, the cops pulled over every car with a burned out light, cracked windshield, drove 1 MPH over the limit, didn’t come to an exact stop before the sign, etc, there would be no one left driving on the roads. They even ignore expired tags simply because those with the expired tags probably couldn’t afford them and will get them when they can.
If I sued every Tom, Dick, and Harry that hurt me in some way, I would spend more time in court then working. If I called the police every time my neighbor’s dog crapped in my yard I would need to build an extra bedroom so they could shorten the trip.
Life here doesn’t work that way. If the police catch a kid out late at night when they shouldn’t be, they get a ride home. My neighbor is a sweet old thing and her dog has an affection for my yard. Unemployment is high and most jobs pay poorly around here. But most of all, the police and prosecutors recognize the benefits and costs of prosecuting someone.
Don’t be fooled though. You drink and drive, no second chance. You make meth, your mistake. You beat your ole lady, say good bye.
The police around here have earned the communities respect. And that makes for a happier community.
Mr. Fusion, I feel you may be misunderstanding me a bit. I don’t believe that everyone with a burned out light should be arrested or you should be able to sue everybody that hurts you in any way. But I do believe that these are legislative rather than enforcement issues. If the police are constantly having to bend or ignore the law to make life livable, then that implies to me that there is a problem with the law, which we should seek to change. Perhaps, in your community, that means doing things like lowering the cost of registration or adjusting the curfew laws. In a democracy, we shouldn’t have to rely on cops to use their discretion because we shold be able to change the laws that aren’t meeting the needs of the community.
16, joe
What you advocate is usually referred to as “zero tolerance”. And it doesn’t work unless you want to fill the jails with blacks and Hispanics.
Most jurisdictions have laws on the books about wearing disguises during the commission of a crime. Well every Halloween millions of American kids extort law abiding citizens into providing a treat . Should they be prosecuted for second degree felonies or will a little discretion on the part of the police, prosecution, and courts allow reason to prevail.