Inmate captured after escaping from the Hamilton County jail

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - An inmate was apprehended after escaping from the Hamilton County Justice Center early Thursday, a sheriff’s spokeswoman confirms to FOX19 NOW.

Tyrone Edwards “took advantage of an open delivery dock door that is used for deliveries,” Kyla Woods said in a statement Thursday morning.

“He was serving as a kitchen detail worker tasked with taking out the trash, and walked out of the open delivery loading dock door at that time,” she said.

Edwards, 43, was in custody for a probation violation of breaking and entering with a $10,000 bond.

Around 9 a.m., Edwards was apprehended and found about 20 minutes away from the Justice Center in College Hill.

This comes amid a staffing shortage at the jail, one that led to deputies only accepting violent felony offenders or ones who police felt needed to be locked up to protect the public earlier this week, between 11 p.m. Sunday and 7 a.m. Monday.

Retaining corrections officers is hard industry-wide, other Ohio sheriffs have told FOX19 NOW.

Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey is calling for changing requirements at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy.

Now, recruits must pass a physical fitness test, which includes a 1.5-mile run, before being permitted to proceed to the written test also required to graduate.

It’s fairer, she has said, to give recruits the written test first and then the fitness one. If recruits can’t pass the fitness test, at least they have the written one complete and can continue to work on achieving the physical requirements.

“I don’t know what we are going to do about the shortage though because it does not pay a lot for what they have to go through,” Woods tells FOX19 NOW.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.