On May 21st, Mesa County inmate James Rynerson, who is charged with menacing, disorderly conduct, and trespass charges, was mistakenly released from jail when deputies mistook him for another inmate, Marvin March, The Daily Sentinel reported Thursday.
Citing a report, the Sentinel explains that Rynerson and March had temporarily shared a jail cell while March’s cell was under construction, but by May 21st, Rynerson was housed alone in his cell “in the jails Spruce Pod.”
When jailers came to inform March of his release they called into Rynerson’s cell. Rynerson allegedly never corrected the jail staff when given March’s paperwork, debit card, clothes and a leather jacket. The report states that Rynerson, signed March’s name on the release forms.
According to the report, neither the deputy or the tech who processed the paper work checked the inmates wristband, it was 9 pm, May 21st, when he was released from jail.
Arriving home Rynerson’s wife was shocked to find her husband in the garage of her apartment and when she learned that he’d been mistakenly released, convinced him to turn himself back in, even going so far as to drive him back to the Mesa County Detention Facility.
Rynerson’s was back in custody by 11 pm May 21st, and facing new charges, “escape, forgery, criminal impersonation, and theft.”
Mesa County Sheriff’s department has launched an investigation into the matter, according to Mesa County Sheriff’s Sgt. Henry Stoffel, he also praised Rynerson’s wife, “We appreciate that she recognized his error and recommended that he turn himself in before it became something more significant.”
The deputies later night recovered March’s debit card, leather jacket, and also reimbursed him for the clothes that Rynerson was able to leave jail in.
