SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Major changes are being made at the Seminole County Jail after an accused violent inmate was released by mistake earlier this year.
Channel 9's Karla Ray uncovered the changes after the workers responsible for the lapse admitted to being "careless."
Those workers said personal issues and an overwhelming number of inmates being brought in and out led to a home invasion suspect being let out by accident.
PDF: Seminal County Jail internal investigation
Jason Zow, who was being held in Seminole County because he has a family member who works at the Orange County Jail, was out for two days before he was captured again.
The employees responsible for the release were suspended for one day without pay, something the alleged victims said was a slap on the wrist.
Zow is set to be sentenced next month after accepting a plea deal of eight years in prison for ransacking a home last year and tying up two girls inside.
"My life was on the line and including my sister," said one of the victims, Aisha Andujar.
Zow was supposed to be held on no bond at the time of his accidental release.
A new report obtained by Eyewitness News shows overwhelmed jail employees and a lack of clear instructions on bond paperwork potentially put the victims at risk.
The internal investigation found that "because there were no local charges for Zow, there were no case numbers listed on a charge/release form."
But the three employees involved in Zow's release also reported personal issues that day, saying that "on the evening of Zow's release, there were over 30 arrests..."
One employee said she was "distracted and frazzled and did not take the time to compare case numbers from the release packet," because some of Zow's charges were bondable but others were not.
"This is what they do on a daily basis and the fact that you don't know you let someone on accident, someone that wasn't supposed to come out? That pisses me off," said Andujar.
In addition to requiring a phone call to double-check whether an inmate is bondable when being held for another agency, case numbers are being added to bond paperwork so employees can double-check which case they're paying to be released on.
WFTV
