Published: Nov. 23, 2021 at 1:28 PM PST COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - The state Department of Public Safety has launched an internal investigation after a Tabor Correctional inmate died of a suspected overdose amid allegations of correctional officers smuggling drugs into the prison. (The officer) said that Thompson had come to her and asked her if she wanted to make some extra money on several occasions but that she didnt want anything to do with it, investigators wrote in the report. All rights reserved. } function evvntDiscoveryInit() { discovery: { On Nov. 18, the day after Goodson was pronounced dead, investigators again met with Bullard, who showed them videos from the night Goodson apparently overdosed. The prison is a mixed classification facility, resulting in inmates classified, originally, from medium to maximum control levels being housed within, with minimum custody inmates added in the 2014 addition. A Tabor Correctional Institution offender with pre-existing medical conditions, who tested positive for COVID-19, has died at a hospital. Do Not Sell My Personal Information, If you need further help setting your homepage, check your browsers Help menu, First Circuit: Surgery performed on inmate to locate alleged contraband a violation of the Fourth Amendment, Ala. police: Man gets ride home from jail, then kills 3 relatives and friend, Charges dropped against detainee after video showed beating by deputies inside Ga. jail, Inmate accused of slashing N.Y. corrections officer indicted, Open the tools menu in your browser. Mother reacts to news of sons apparent drug overdose at Tabor Correctional, National Park Service says never push a slower friend down when escaping a bear, 2 dead, 1 deputy injured in Harnett County chase, crash, officials say; chase suspect on the run. There were 99 guns and enough fentanyl to kill thousands of people recovered from the home of a former Tabor Correctional Institution corrections officer. That works out to about one officer for every 29 inmates. Lexipol. [24] When this possible health issue was reported, Mr. Kenworthy stated, "If something of that nature did occur and it was determined that some of our other population was exposed, necessary actions would be taken to provide those inmates with the appropriate testing and/or medical treatment that would ensure their well-being as well as the staff here. The Sheriffs Office will work with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine if more guns were stolen or if any were used in crimes. He was arrested and charged with trafficking synthetic cannabinoids into the prison. The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named two new prison administrators. Early on the morning of Nov. 15, 2013, Lanesboro had just four officers in the chow hall to oversee the 100 inmates who were there for breakfast, McCoy said. As soon as we plug a hole in one area, offenders find a work around. As of September 2014, this employee delivered fast food program remained suspended by the Director of the State Prison System. Their son, former correctional officer Valentino Rodriguez Jr., was found dead dead at home in October. Look for more on this story as events warrant and in the next Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online. [37], WECT reported that in late November 2014 a prison guard was arrested by the FBI for conspiring to rob an armored vehicle. Corrections Officer V Mark A. Loecken. Three correctional officers resign amid drug smuggling allegations and suspected inmate overdose death, 3 hurt in crash involving motorcycle near Surfside Beach, Darlington fire captain recovering after cutting torch explosion, Panthers founder, former owner Jerry Richardson dies at 86, Runners arrive, prepare for Myrtle Beach Marathon, Police: 1 shot, body found in Forestbrook area, Everybody is cheering him on: Duo ready to rock and roll through Myrtle Beach Marathon, wmbf-publicfile@gray.tv - (843) 839-9623. Three correctional officers named in two separate incident reports filed by the Tabor City Police Department have resigned in the past week. More than 121 grams of synthetic marijuana was discovered during a search of the cell. They are asking that anyone who has information to contact the Ontario Police Department at (909) 395-2908. COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - The state Department of Public Safety has launched an internal investigation after a Tabor Correctional inmate died of a suspected overdose amid allegations of correctional officers smuggling drugs into the prison. High School Job Shadowing Program/Senior Projects, Two Chadbourn police officers receive heroism awards for saving lives during fires, Emergency personnel, community partners conduct active shooter training at East Columbus High, #UNSOLVED: Shining light on cold cases in the Cape Fear, a WWAY special report, 'Teacher of the Month' dedicates life to special needs students after high school internship. North Carolina. [10], Early in 2014, an addition housing 252 minimum inmates opened, rasing the maximum number of inmates housed at Tabor Prison to 1,752. Multiple drug overdoses in the area near Maddens home on the 8000 block of N.C. 72 East near Lumberton sparked the start of the investigation that ended in his arrest, McLean said. One of those officers fell and hurt her knee when she went to Callahans defense, Jernigan said. Video from the area showed Officer Wesley Thompson retrieve two packages from under the podium, place envelopes on top of them and deliver them to an inmates cell. Three correctional officers named in two separate incident reports filed by the Tabor City Police Department have resigned in the past week. [20] Kenworthy had been named as Administrator prior to the prison's opening on June 29, 2007.[21]. The victim is reportedly in his 30s and from the Tabor City . (The officer) said that Thompson had come to her and asked her if she wanted to make some extra money on several occasions but that she didnt want anything to do with it, investigators wrote in the report. Theres just a few bad apples out there, he said. Bertie now houses about 935 inmates. Three correctional officers resign amid drug smuggling allegations and suspected inmate overdose death, Three corrections officers resign amid drug smuggling allegations, National Park Service says never push a slower friend down when escaping a bear, 2 dead, 1 deputy injured in Harnett County chase, crash, officials say; chase suspect on the run. The other officer on shift with Thompson had been at Tabor Correctional since June 2019. Its so dangerous, Gravitte said. Investigators spoke with an Assistant District Attorney, who requested an autopsy be performed on Goodson. That investigation includes support from the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), Maj. Russell Conway of the TCPD said Monday. The death of Rodriguez Jr., who left his job at California State Prison-Sacramento in. When you dont have adequate staff to manage the inmates, and theres an incident, unfortunately people can get hurt and sometimes people even die, Webster said. [22][23] Inmates were found guilty of additional charges due to these assaults. The judge will determine what is done with the firearms after the trial. They stopped in Fontana, near Base Line Road and the 15 Freeway, in a commercial complex. Copyright 2021 WECT. [41], Soon after, late December 2014, the same news outlet reported that an officer who had been indicted by a grand jury on charges of felony conspiracy to bring contraband into a detention facility, accepting bribes; furnishing controlled substances to inmates; and furnishing tobacco products to inmates was still being allowed to work at the prison by officials, albeit in an "appropriately reassigned" position. evvnt_require("evvnt/discovery_plugin").init({ She earned an extra $36,500 in overtime that year, records show. We absolutely and fully support prosecution of those responsible. Inmates were charged with assaulting officers on more than one occasion. There are no doubts drugs get into prisons despite extensive efforts to keep them out. April 5, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. WESTMINSTER - An off-duty Westminster police officer and an off-duty state corrections officer were arrested Saturday night in connection with a carjacking, kidnapping . Geo resource failed to load. Dawe, whose group shares research to help correctional officers, said that prison leaders who operate without sufficient staff roll the dice with peoples lives.. A Tabor Correctional Institution supervisor reported the inmate overdose to Tabor City police on Nov. 16, who began an investigation into the matter. Local law enforcement, either a police department or sheriffs office, is called whenever anyone is caught trying to smuggle in drugs. Bullard has served as the associate warden for custody at the prison since December 2019. According to state law, correctional officers cannot have been convicted of misdemeanors for three years. detail_page_enabled: true, [35] According to the same news report, the department of public safety conducted an investigation, "but the results aren't public record. While the inmates paid for the food, state resources were used to deliver these meals. Some correctional officers have more than doubled their income by working overtime. These allegations are under internal investigation as well, Bull said in a statement. Select the option or tab named Internet Options (Internet Explorer), Options (Firefox), Preferences (Safari) or Settings (Chrome). A correctional officer at Tabor Correctional Institution is under investigation following the overdose death of an inmate there, the Tabor City Police Department reports. [39], Also in November 2014. yet another officer was arrested for providing drugs to the inmates. COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - District attorney Jon David released a statement Wednesday on the N.C. Department of Public Safetys internal investigation after a Tabor Correctional inmate died of a suspected overdose amid allegations of correctional officers smuggling drugs into the prison. All it would take is for five or ten guys to decide were going to take over the prison. orientation: "portrait", A prison with 1,000 inmates should have a total of at least 300 to 350 officers, he said. He called me that Friday morning about 9:30 he called me and he was fine; he talked, we talked for the whole time the call would let us talk. All rights reserved. Enter https://www.corrections1.com/ and click OK. The Department of Public Safety has zero tolerance for any staff involved in any illegal activity and is cooperating fully in this investigation. All rights reserved. The Tabor Correctional Institution was constructed on a 37-acre site in east Tabor City, Columbus County. Perritt leaves his post as superintendent at Lumberton Correctional Institution and assumes command at Tabor, where he will oversee the state's third largest . Copyright 2023 While speaking about Goodson, Bullard mentioned prison staff had found more drugs under a podium in a unit. Lexipol. Investigators filed their first report, with the crime/incident listed as negligent manslaughter, on Nov. 18, six days after an inmate, Dustin Goodson, was taken to the hospital by prison staff for a suspected drug overdose. Its a black eye to the law enforcement profession, Wilkins said. There is no prior relationship between the victim and the suspects, McBride said. We're your neighbors. [48] Because of these charges, the sergeant resigned her position. "His death is tragic, and we continue to work hard to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in our prisons," said Todd Ishee, Commissioner of Prisons. Synthetic cannabinoids, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration online Drug Fact Sheet says, mimic THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana.. The ATFs database called the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, or NIBIN, also will be used to determine if guns were stolen. But he said that Gov. publisher_id: "7056", [32] After an internal investigation lasting only a few weeks, the state found no "wrongdoing" in the fundraising effort, but halted the program, until "state prison administrators and auditors can develop formal policy guidelines for employee fundraising activities.". [38] The officer was also planning to break into several houses to obtain weapons for the planned robbery. But some experts interviewed by the Observer said thats a possibility. An officer at Tabor Correctional Institution planned to rob an armored car. [11], Before its official opening, the prison was used in various training exercises. "After the decision was made to locate the prisons in Tabor City, the town had to fight the battle of paying for the land (and giving the land to the state) and we (Tabor City) had to fight the battle of raising the millions of dollars in grants that it took to service the prisons with water and sewer" [4], The design of Tabor Correctional is the same as six other North Carolina prisons. Copyright 2023 Corrections1. [12], It cost approximately $28million to operate this prison each year[13] TCI is maintained by contract maintenance, TKC Management Services.[14]. And we dont have enough staff to fight back.. text: "Promote your event", The Tabor Correctional Institution, also known as Tabor City Prison, is a prison within the North Carolina Department of Public Safety located in Tabor City, North Carolina. (The sergeant) also asked another staff member to bring him his belongings from his office, officers wrote in the report. He resigned from his position on Monday. One former officer, who rushed to a colleagues defense after she was slashed in the neck by an inmate at Lanesboro Correctional Institution, said the attack might have been prevented with more staff. The investigation continues in the case, the sheriff said. I dont understand how thats happening. That investigation includes support from the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), Maj. Russell Conway of the TCPD said Monday. Wesley Thompson, a Correctional Officer at Tabor Correctional Institution, in the custody of Capt. [44], In June 2015, the Tabor-Loris Tribune reported that an officer was being investigated striking a person in the road. But while North Carolina typically hires about 1,800 to 2,000 prison officers per year, it usually loses about that many as well. During the search of the deceaseds cell two small suboxone strips were located in the inmates cell and were collected by prison staff.. The second officer admitted she knew about Thompsons drug activity. Talk to WWAY's anchors, reporters and meteorologists. Download the WWAY News and StormTrack 3 Weather Apps on your smart phone or tablet device to receive breaking news and weather push notifications the minute it happens. Sheriff: Its a black eye to the law enforcement profession. Weve got a lot of folks who are not staying with us.. Officials say that Malek Moore, 29, was found unresponsive in his cell shortly after 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. Cameron Keyon Green, 20, of Woodrow Street in Tabor City was shot and killed during an April 21 burglary in the 1000 block of Miller Road, Columbus County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Michelle Tatum said Friday. Upon the airing of the story, the Director of the North Carolina Division of Prisons suspended these activities, pending yet another review stating, "The Division of Prisons is surveying the activities of all service clubs across the prison system and developing more specific governing policies for these clubs to ensure that they are operating consistently and are providing true rehabilitative benefits." Mother, son charged with child sex crimes", "Correctional officer accused of having sex with an inmate", "Tabor Correctional inmate escapes from work detail", "State auditor finds problems in Tabor Correctional travel records", "Police: Correctional officer drives into two CFCC students", "UPDATE: Stabbed home invasion suspect is a prison employee", North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tabor_City_Correctional_Institution&oldid=1112935200, Buildings and structures in Columbus County, North Carolina, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022, Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations, Articles with dead external links from February 2022, Articles needing cleanup from September 2022, Articles with bare URLs for citations from September 2022, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from September 2022, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 September 2022, at 21:35. Detectives are concerned that there may be other victims. When your shift starts at 5:30 a.m. and you work 12 hours and you get told you're held over till 9 (p.m.) you're not alert. The gun was determined to belong to Orban, police said. "[25], Some negative publicity was reported during this period by officers during this period were charged with committing theft,[26][27] and, in an unrelated case, a different officer was charged with dealing drugs, although not in the prison. Meggan Callahan was killed there - allegedly by an inmate who beat her to death with a fire extinguisher. More than 50 dosage units, 200 grams of the synthetic drug commonly known as K2/Spice was recovered, Conway said. "The health and safety of the staff and the offender population is our top priority." #ThisIsThePlace. The San Bernardino County District Attorneys office has not received the case yet from Ontario police, and has until Tuesday to file charges, spokeswoman Susan Mickey said. (The officer) said that on that Tuesday night Thompson told her that he had a large amount and needed to get rid of it as soon as possible.. A short time later, Orban and Jelinek were positively identified as the suspects responsible for the carjacking, kidnap and rape, Ontario police said in a statement. TABOR CITY, NC (WWAY) In Columbus County, an investigation is ongoing after one Tabor City prisoner died of an overdose, two correctional officers resigned, and one was arrested for. Contact the writer: 714-704-3764 or ghardesty@ocregister.com, Westminster detective arrested in brutal rape, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Three women arrested for alleged fraudulent federal student loans from Fullerton college, Tom Sizemore, Saving Private Ryan actor, dies at 61, 7 house fires prompt fears about gas meters buried in snow. He can actually send illegal contraband through the jail, such as weapons, McLean said if the stamp were used on mail to inmates. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is committed to continually improving the Public Inmate Locator System web experience to locate inmates. (The sergeant) also asked another staff member to bring him his belongings from his office, officers wrote in the report. Orban then fled, leaving his service weapon behind and still in the victims vehicle, police said. The gashes in the officers face and neck required 39 stitches. When Orban returned to the mall, he called his wife to tell her he was missing his gun. He ran over and subdued the prisoner. To cope with the shortages, many prisons have also paid hundreds of thousands each year for overtime. During the construction of the new addition to the prison, cell phones and marijuana were found during the construction of the addition, apparently in an effort to smuggle the items into the prison. Year. The cause of death was reported as having been natural causes,[34] however, a WECT report dated July 30, 2015 revealed that the cause of death was "methanol toxicity" from a concoction of chemicals including hand sanitizer that the inmate drank. During the home search, 24,000 milligrams of fentanyl were recovered, which is enough to kill 12,000 people, Wilkins said. I think if I hadnt gotten over there in time, (Mosley) probably would have cut her throat, McCoy said. Your morale goes down," she said. It puts officers lives in danger to be honest., The inmates literally say, You all are understaffed, so if we wanted to, we could overtake this prison. . Jacobs, 53, had been the warden at Lumberton Correctional Institution in Lumberton since 2020. . The Tabor Correctional Institution, also known as Tabor City Prison, is a prison within the North Carolina Department of Public Safety located in Tabor City, North Carolina. During the search of the deceaseds cell two small suboxone strips were located in the inmates cell and were collected by prison staff.. [19], The Tabor City Prison officially opened on August 18, 2008,[13] with George Kemworthy serving as administrator of the prison. Mobile App | Weather App | WWAYTV3 Email Sign Up, We're everywhere you need us to be. Video from the area showed Officer Wesley Thompson retrieve two packages from under the podium, place envelopes on top of them and deliver them to an inmates cell. Meggan Callahan was killed there allegedly by an inmate who beat her to death with a fire extinguisher. . Copyright 2021 WECT. (910) 763-0979 | newsroom@wwaytv3.com1224 Magnolia Village Way, Leland, NC 28451. All rights reserved. We value and appreciate the difficult jobs that prison guards perform, and we will not allow the criminal actions of a few to compromise the safety of the prison environment for all.. North Carolina Prison guards are paid at the lower end of the national scale,[17] although North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory proposed in April 2015 significant increases in officer pay, although the raise may be partially based on the custody level of the prison. Ive got a recording of his heartbeat . Conway said the investigation at TCI is ongoing. By DEUCE NIVEN tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com A correctional officer at Tabor Correctional Institution is under investigation following the overdose death of an inmate there, the Tabor City Police Department reports. She resigned last Friday. Nine of the 99 weapons recovered were stolen, he said. [18], In May 2014 TCI was visited by high ranking Panama officials to review the operation of the prison. At Polk Correctional Institution, north of Durham, two or three officers are routinely put in charge of monitoring more than 200 inmates in the chow hall, said Sierra Gravitte, an officer who this month resigned from the prison after four years on the job. [46] WECT later reported this officer had been convicted of larceny a year before the prison hired her. Its unclear whether better staffing would have saved Callahans life. It houses over 1700 mixed classification inmates. When you see news happening, report it! He definitely shouldnt have had this..