Corrections Officer fired following inmate escape

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BAY MINETTE, Alabama — A Baldwin County Corrections officer has been fired following the escape of an inmate in early November from the Baldwin County Corrections Center in Bay Minette.

At around 10 a.m. on Nov. 5, the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Command issued a release asking for assistance in the recapture of Jose Andres Rosado-Ortiz, 41, of Robertsdale, who left the corrections center around 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

Rosado-Ortiz was re-captured at around 10:15 p.m. near Alabama 225 near the Crossroads Community southwest of Bay Minette,

On Nov 6, Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack Jr. issued a statement saying that “an internal investigation as to what led up to the inmate’s escape, the manner in which he escaped, and the subsequent search, is being conducted.”

In an interview on Tuesday, Nov. 25 Mack said the corrections officer, who has not been identified, was terminated on Nov. 16 for failure to act properly in the scope of his duty, basically inattention and a couple of other violations of job performance that night.

According to jail records, Rosado-Ortiz, 41, listed as a resident of Robertsdale, was booked into the Baldwin County Corrections Center in February of 2019 on six counts of burglary third degree (four counts with the Fairhope Police Department) and three counts of burglary second degree (two with the Fairhope Police Department).

Rosado-Ortiz had been sentenced in Federal Court to 150 months on a firearms conviction and was awaiting transfer to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

As a result of the investigation, Mack said, it was determined that Rosado-Ortiz got up at around 2 a.m. to get a glass of water.

“This is an open-barracks facility that does allow some movement,” Mack said. “Through the course of the investigation we have identified one primary corrections officer who was on duty the night of the escape. (Rosado-Ortiz) apparently noticed that the corrections officer was not paying attention, and after some hesitation, was able to make his way through a door and through an interior fence.”

From there, Mack said, Rosado-Ortiz was able to scale outer fencing that had been damaged during a construction process. That damage has since been identified and repaired, Mack said.

Jail records show Rosado-Ortiz was booked into the Baldwin County Corrections Center at 11:48 p.m. on Nov. 5, charged with escape, first degree (Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office); burglary, second degree (Fairhope Police Department); fugitive from justice and a second burglary charge. He remains in jail without bond, according to online records, He is being held without bond as a federal inmate with detainers for hold with the U.S. Marshals Service on a fugitive from justice charge. He also has an outstanding warrant in St. Tammany, Louisiana, Cadenhead said.

The officer is not being identified, Mack said, until he has an opportunity to appeal his termination. The officer has two weeks from the time of his termination to appeal, Mack said. So far there has been no appeal filed.

If an appeal is filed, the Sheriff’s Department has 10 days to hear his appeal, Mack said, after which a decision can be made to uphold the termination, overturn the termination or determine if a public hearing is necessary to hear further evidence.

He had been a Baldwin County corrections officer for just over a year.