Staff Photo by Mitchell Zachs |
| A guard inspects the portion of Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution perimeter fence Sunday where inmate James Kinney exited the prison Saturday night. |
Inmate who scaled EOCI fence Saturday said to be dangerous
eastoregonian.com/front page/10-4-99
By KAREN ZACHARIAS of the East Oregonian
PENDLETON — A dangerous sex offender who escaped from Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute Saturday night was still missing this morning.
James Kinney, 39, escaped by scaling two 12-feet high fences spaced 20 feet apart. In between were five coils of razor wire. It was the first escape since EOCI opened 14 years ago.
Kinney went over the fence just west of the main office at EOCI’s administration building. Department of Corrections officials reported that alarms indicated the escape occurred around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Once EOCI officials became aware of the escape, EOCI inmates were confined to their cells and local authorities were notified. Pendleton Police, Oregon State Police and the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the twilight search for the escapee.
Kinney, a sex offender out of Josephine County, was serving a minimum of 37 years for two counts of first-degree sex abuse, and one count each of first- and second-degree sodomy. His earliest release date was 2034.
EOCI staff were informed when Kinney was transferred to EOCI (first in August of 1997, then again in February of 1999) that he was a threat. Law enforcement officials said inmates like Kinney have nothing to lose by attempting an escape; inmates serving long sentences have no incentive to play by the rules.
There was evidence that Kinney was cut by the wire, but he apparently did not lose enough blood to slow him down. Investigators suspect he went east on Northwest Carden Avenue, before turning south, to Court Street.
Sheriff John Trumbo said a tracking dog from Umatilla County Search and Rescue tracked Kinney twice to Albertson’s at 1300 N.W. Court before losing the scent.
Albertson’s maintains a video security system that reportedly viewed a man matching Kinney’s description. The individual was allegedly wearing an overcoat and had his hands stuffed in his pockets as if he were grasping a gun. Oregon State Police investigators have viewed that film.
Kinney is 5-foot-8 with brown hair and eyes and weighs 170 pounds. He was wearing blue prison denim trousers and shirt with the word ‘‘Inmate’’ stenciled in orange across the back of the shirt and the knee of the pants.
An EOCI guard shopping at Albertson’s shortly after the escape reportedly noticed the fellow matching Kinney’s description but dismissed the resemblance. Although uncertain if Kinney was actually at Albertson’s, investigators suspect if he was someone may have provided him a ride from the store.
Mayor Bob Ramig said he was notified sometime after midnight of the escape.
“We want to know how this happened and we expect to get the truth,” Ramig said.
Those are some the questions DOC officials are asking themselves.
“We want to know first how could this happen.” said Perrin Damon, communications manager of DOC. “Our second concern is how to capture him.”
Other law enforcement officials suggested the alarms at the EOCI facility have not worked properly for some time. EOCI has had problems in the past with squirrels setting off the sensory alarms. Some law enforcement officials questioned whether the alarms were functioning at the time of the escape.
But Damon insisted the “alarm on the fence was on and working.”
No guards saw Kinney going over the wire. Damon said when the prison was constructed, citizens of Pendleton did not want a guard tower. While there is not an official guard tower, Damon noted that there are a couple of observation stations. But she declined to comment on whether those stations were manned when Kinney escaped.
“I can’t say when those stations are manned because that would compromise security,” Damon said. But she said there was no observation station in the area where Kinney scaled the fence.
The medium-security prison has 1,582 beds and holds both male and female inmates.
Damon described Kinney as a “very serious sex offender.” His victim was reportedly a 12-year-old female.
Anyone with information concerning Kinney’s whereabouts should notify the police or call 911.