Nacogdoches Co. sheriff disciplines sergeant for escape

Kerss: Gates shouldn't have been open together

NACOGDOCHES — A Nacogdoches jailer has been disciplined after committing an error in jail procedure that led to the brief escape of a man from the county lockup Tuesday.

Sheriff Thomas Kerss said the sergeant on duty incorrectly authorized the simultaneous opening of a pair of gates for a delivery, a move that allowed a man waiting to be booked to flee before he was captured about three minutes later.

"There are some times that it's necessary to have to open those two gates; however, protocol in this case should have been that those gates not be open simultaneously," Kerss said. "That sergeant did receive disciplinary action."

The sheriff said because the escape was a matter of staff error, training and education were the best deterrents to similar escapes in the future.

"There's not any other action to take other than just reinforcing the necessity for keeping those gates alternating opening and closing," Kerss said.

Texas Commission on Jail Standards Executive Director Adan Munoz said he does not anticipate taking any action against the jail because the sheriff is handling the internal problem properly.

While Kerss said he was "not very pleased" about the law enforcement center's second escape in a matter of weeks, he said he has good and hard-working jailers.

"It's easy for them to come under a magnifying glass when something goes wrong, with very little opportunity for praise on the days that they continually do things right."

Meanwhile, the man who escaped, 19-year-old Adam Christopher Stripling, has been classified as an escape risk and faces felony charges on top of the trespassing charges for which he was originally arrested.