4 placed on leave at RI detention center following inmate escape

Three correction officers and one supervisor at the Wyatt Detention Center have been placed on leave pending the outcome of an investigation into an inmate's escape.

James Morales escaped the Rhode Island detention center Saturday night and it wasn't discovered he was missing for several hours. Officials said he scaled a wall and climbed over a barbed wire fence.

Morales was captured Thursday in Somerville, Massachusetts after a large search in the area.

“I can't begin to express our gratitude and thanks to the MA state police for their work,” Luke Gallant, chairman of the Wyatt Detention Board of Directors, said.

FOX25 has learned that on the night Morales escaped, workers at the detention facility had been working as many as 80 hours per week. A union official said the prison works at bare minimum staffing and requires officers to work overtime.

An investigation into the escape will include interviews with all 29 employees working the night Morales got out, and every prisoner in his cell block.

“The community may rest assured when this investigation is complete and all the facts are known anyone and everyone responsible for this escape will be held accountable,” Gallant said.

Gallant said the board continues to support Warden Daniel Martin.

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