https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Bexar-County-Jail-receives-notice-of-12806694.php
Bexar County Jail officials knew of escape plan months before 3 murder suspects broke out
By Jacob Beltran and Caleb Downs
Updated 9:12 am CDT, Thursday, April 5, 2018
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, seen on Jan. 2, 2018, said in a statement that getting the Bexar County jail back in compliance with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards "is our number one priority."
Photo: Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News
Bexar County Jail officials knew that inmates were planning an imminent escape before three murder suspects broke free last month, according to a state jail inspection report.
The special inspection report from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards notes that sometime before or during August 2017, jail officials discovered "handmade lines" and "non-jail issued items" outside the jail. They also discovered that metal mesh surrounding the recreation area from which the murder suspects eventually escaped had been cut, "leaving a hole through which the inmates were able to throw their handmade lines to the ground."
RELATED: Affidavit: Getaway driver for escaped Bexar County inmates picked them up with child in car
This led jail officials to believe the inmates were using the lines to pull up contraband from outside into the jail, the inspection says.
Following the discovery, jail officials conducted at least two contraband searches in August and January.
The next search wasn't conducted until March, after the suspects escaped.
The revelation sheds new light on the March 2 jail break, in which inmates Eric Trevino, Jacob Anthony Brownson and Luis Antonio Arroyo were able to escape the Bexar County Jail. They were captured less than an hour later, after Trevino's girlfriend, 23-year-old Michelle Ramirez, notified authorities that she had driven them from a jail and dropped them off at a nearby Sonic.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar shared the notice Wednesday in a statement, saying the commission performed a special inspection of the jail after the escape and identified two problems.
RELATED: Security guard shot at San Antonio H-E-B
The inspection report states that the size of the exercise area is 291 square feet. Investigators determined more inmates were being allowed to "attend recreation than space allows."
"No more than one inmate can be placed in the exercise area of this size at one time," the report states.
The second problem identified on the report cites a regulation that both regular and irregular searches of the entire facility for contraband should be performed and noted on a permanent facility record.
Inspectors reviewing jail documents determined that neither type of search was conducted between April and August of 2017 in Unit CC, the housing location the inmates would escape from.
RELATED: 3 murder suspects who escaped Bexar County Jail captured at San Antonio Sonic
In a response to the notice, jail officials said that they are already working on correcting the violations noted in the report.
"Having passed our two latest annual inspections, being in compliance is our number one priority," Salazar said in a statement.
The jail last passed a commission inspection in January to maintain its compliance with state minimum jail standards.
"Since the escape, we had undertaken an exhaustive top-to-bottom inspection of our facility, as well as implementing new security protocols," Salazar said. "We look forward to presenting our findings to TCJS as soon as possible, and working with them to regain our compliance status without delay."
Officials said all inmate units have been reassessed and that individual placards have been created that detail specific rules for units regarding inmate standards.
The placards show the number of inmates to be allowed in the exercise area, authorities said.
As for the searches, officials said policies, practices and personnel have been developed to ensure 100 percent compliance on contraband searches throughout the jail.
The statement adds that Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff has pledged his support to helping maintain the change in practices.
Salazar was unavailable to comment further on the notice Wednesday evening.
Along with staffing and procedure changes, deputies added a barricade to the front of the facility that redirects traffic from passing in front of the jail.
jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
New brewery brings top-shelf pub grub, beers to Southtown