(AP) — RENO, Nev. The Nevada Department of Corrections Director resigned on Friday. At the request of Governor Steve Sisolak following a four-day prison escape by a convicted bombmaker.
The escapee apprehended on Wednesday night. While serving a life sentence for a murder committed in a 2007 explosion outside a Las Vegas resort.
Resignation of Nevada Department Officials
Sisolak said in a statement Friday. That he “requested and received the resignation of Nevada Department of Corrections Director Charles Daniels, effective immediately.” Six additional officers placed on administrative leave.
The humiliating series of events focused on chronic staffing shortages in Nevada prisons. A month before the November elections against a high-stakes political backdrop in the western battleground state.
Las Vegas Republican sheriff The Democratic governor’s opponent, Joe Lombardo, said authorities were lucky to catch the convicted killer. After he had a “four-day head start.”
According to the leaders of the union representing state prison workers. This highlights the need for immediate action to ensure their and the public’s safety.
Sisolak and Lombardo are set to debate today in Las Vegas. Five years after they collaborated to help hurricane victims raise millions of dollars.
On October 1, 2017, 58 people killed, and over 850 were injured in a mass shooting at the resort.
Just try to escape from a jail with 16 inch walls! Pioche, Nevada! http://t.co/oQRKp8K
— Nevada Silver Trails (@NvSilverTrails) July 28, 2011
On September 23, Porfirio Duarte-Herrera, 42, escaped from the Southern Desert Correctional Center outside Las Vegas. State corrections officials didn’t realize he wasn’t at the medium-security facility until Tuesday.
Duarte-Herrera: Arrested in Transit Center
On Wednesday night, he arrested at a transit center in Las Vegas as he was prepared. Thanks to a tip, I was able to board a bus out of town.
In the news conference with an FBI on Thursday. Special agent and the head of the US Marshals Service for Nevada, Lombardo, stated that they were fortunate to catch up with Duarte-Herrera. So quickly given his “four-day head start.”
NEW VIDEO: NDOC Prison escapee Porfirio Duarte-Herrera was spotted trying to board a shuttle to the border last night near Eastern and Owens. An alert citizen recognized him and called 911. He was apprehended by LVMPD patrol officers moments later. pic.twitter.com/ngnfHTzJI0
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) September 29, 2022
“The policies and procedures. As well all the failures that occurred (last) Friday and up to Tuesday,” Lombardo said.
“Infrastructure and prison staffing issues, the ability of this individual to do it as simply as he did it. From what I’ve told is a major source of concern for me, the entire law enforcement community, and the community at large,” he said.
The Department of Corrections was deafeningly quiet about the circumstances of the escape from the start. Officials declined to attend Thursday’s news conference. Attempts to contact Daniels on Friday were unsuccessful. There is no personal phone number for him. Department spokespeople did not respond immediately to an Associated Press request for assistance reaching Daniels for comment.
Demanded An Immediate Response To Prison Workers
According to a former corrections officer who now leads an advocacy group for corrections officers. Duarte-Herrera created a dummy and used battery acid to dissolve his jail cell’s window frame.
The guard tower that would have kept an eye on the unit, he escaped from was unguarded. Its been for several years. According to Paul Lunkwitz, North Las Vegas Fraternal Order of Police Nevada CO Lodge 21 president.
On Friday, the head of the local union representing state correctional officers demanded an immediate response to prison workers’ ongoing concerns about chronic understaffing and a priority for their safety.
“DOC leadership has cut corners that have resulted in dangerous incidents. Such that removing guards from towers that keep a constant eye on the outer fence lines. Which could have prevented a convicted murderer from escaping,” AFSCME Local 4041 President Harry Schiffman said.
The criticism of Sisolak’s handling of the escape began as soon as he announced Tuesday that Duarte-Herrera had escaped on September 23. He state that the inmate’s absence not discovered until a head count at the prison on Tuesday morning and ordered an investigation.
