Inmates Die in Private Transport Accident

Unbelted inmates scream as van crashes; 2 killed
Saturday, June 28, 2008

EL DORADO, Ark. —
The driver of a private security van ferrying prison inmates through southern Arkansas fell asleep behind the wheel, causing a crash that killed two prisoners and injured four others, authorities said.

Gregory O. Reed, 43, of Texas was driving a van for U.S. Extradition Service Inc. when he dozed off early Friday, the Arkansas State Police said.

Cpl. Jeff Hust told the El Dorado News-Times that prisoners began screaming, "Boss! Boss!" and that another guard grabbed the wheel but overcorrected. The van struck a culvert and went airborne, rolling twice before stopping.

Shawn Talbot, 29, of Ladysmith, Wis., and Walter Ridley, 47, of Clarendon died at the scene.

Seven inmates and two guards were in the van, which was on its way to Little Rock. Both guards were wearing seat belts, while the inmates were unsecured in the back of the van.

Authorities are investigating the crash.

U.S. Extradition Service, based in Austin, Texas, transports prisoners and inmates under contract with law enforcement agencies. Bill Brees, a spokesman for the company, declined to comment.

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

This will need to be watched . . .

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

Definitely, since it affects us all.

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Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

Seems to me LuVonda that its an opening door for you..obviously that agency wont be using that company anymore.

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River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601

I wonder how insurance deals with an incident like this.

Exactly. And to touch on RWBs post to me . . . this incident will determine how this type of service is used again . . . If at all.

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

This has far reaching implications on our industry and should serve as a wake up call, quite literally to all of us. The ol...experienced members of this profession understand what I am about to state, but could use a reminder. The newbies need to pay attention...

When you first get into this business, you are happy to get a case. With luck and tenacity, you may close it. Your case load progresses with your ability and closure ratio. Eventually, you receive a case that involves a multi-state trip. You research carry laws for proper and legal transportation of the tools of your trade through the states and to the eventual location of the target. You research the bail enforcement laws and local rules where you intend to make the re-arrest. You make necessary contact to remain in compliance and document everything. You call local bondsman in the area you intend to do the recovery, only to ask if they have anybody that skipped that is believed to be in your area. Never tell them the name of the individual that you are looking for, they might have them on bond locally and may alert them. Tell them after the apprehension is made to introduce yourself and let them know where the defendant will be.
You will get the contract to bring him/her back.

The reason for asking the bondsman for somebody in your area is so you can get paid for both legs of the journey, create more contacts and future business.

Now the real issue as it relates to the original post...
Your target, with any luck, does not know that you have found him and are coming for him. So he is asleep and well rested, intoxicated or high. You, on the other hand are tired from the long drive, it is late Saturday night and you have to be at work at 0 dark thirty Monday morning, a hotel isn't an option. All goes as planned, you make your capture without incident and start the long ride home. Adrenaline has given everybody with you new life, you are all pumped and your skip is upset and wide awake. Eventually your body crashes, and one by one, your back up goes to sleep, while the skip remains wide awake. You are the only one left awake from your team because driving has kept your attention and your mind engaged. Then you start to nod off...This can and will happen to any of us in the same situation and could be life threatening. You could crash, be overcome by the wide awake and motivated skip etc.

Please consider this as part of your tactical plan, and prepare for it. Red Bulls don't work forever and you will crash off of them as well as any other Caffine introducer. You need sleep, and a constant rotation of people to effect the proper and safe transport.

Scott

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R.E. "Scott" MacLean III

"Leaders are like Eagles, you never see them in a flock, but one at a time"

Chesapeake Group Investigations, Inc.
Chesapeake Bail Bonds
877-574-0500
301-392-1100 (fax)
301-392-1900 (Office)

Thank you Scott.
That is the very WHY of me using "teams" . . .
This will, I do feel, have a far reaching affect.

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

This is very unfortunate. I agree that it is important to work in teams and to not let someone who is too tired to drive drive. Where there are big egos there is usually more room for big errors. I'm sorry for the inmates and their families. I hope some restitution is made, but how can one really be paid for the loss of loved ones.

1 dead, others injured in Miss. prisoner van crash
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Prisoners were being treated under guard at a hospital after a private prisoner van crashed in southern Mississippi, killing the driver and injuring several others.

The van was carrying three guards and nine inmates when it drove off an interstate Sunday, hitting an embankment and trees before flipping over, police said. One guard and two prisoners were in critical condition.

The van was carrying prisoners from Texas and Louisiana to detention centers along the East Coast. All 12 occupants had to be cut from the crumpled wreckage of the white van, which lay on its roof with its windows shattered amid broken trees.

"The vehicle left the roadway on the right shoulder, collided with a raised embankment and slid and hit a couple trees before landing on its roof," Hattiesburg police spokesman Synarus Green told The Associated Press.

The van's driver, a 50-year-old security officer for a private prisoner transport agency, was pronounced dead at the scene of the single-vehicle crash off Interstate 59 in the Hattiesburg area, police said.

Green said another security guard and six other prisoners remained hospitalized. Another prisoner was treated and released Sunday and was being held at a regional jail in Forrest County, he added.

Hattiesburg police officers were helping guard the prisoners at the hospital, Green said.

"We will make arrangements to get them back to where they came or the locations they were headed to," he said.

The van was operated by a company called Prisoner Transport Services, police said.

Ryan Whitten, director of operations, said the Nashville, Tenn.-based company would not release the identity of the driver or any other information about the wreck Monday but might do so Tuesday.

The company's Web site says Prisoner Transport Services has contracts with federal and state agencies. Whitten would not say whether the prisoners in the van that wrecked were federal or state inmates.

Green said were either from Louisiana or Texas. He said the injured reported they were asleep when the crash occurred around 7 a.m. Sunday.

Green had no further details on the identities of the prisoners. He said no foul play was suspected and the van was the only vehicle involved in the crash.

He said the van landed amid broken trees, complicating rescue crews' work.

"The front nose of the van is kind of short. So when it crushed back it kind of pinned both doors and so both of the front passengers had to be cut out," Green said. "And they cut off the front end of the vehicle so where the prisoners were it's all closed off with the mesh gates over the windows so those they had to be cut out as well."

Green said authorities were not releasing further information about the driver until relatives have been notified.

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Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN