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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint is planning on privitizing our jail.
A local county official reluctantly said the county had privitized the guards at the Genesee Valley Regional juvenile facility as a cost cutting measure..
This should be called the Keystone Kop caper of the year. I understand the kid ran out an unlocked door. I was surprised when FPO started reporting calls about a shackled man running down Corunna Rd. He may have stolen a car and he has not been caught yet.
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Daughter of 73-year-old Flint homicide victim incensed by escape of juvenile suspect
[Posted by Khalil AlHajal | kalhajal@mlive.com June 15, 2012, 9:46 PM] View full size(Photo provided by Flint Police)Police are searching for Mark A. Jones, Jr., a 16-year-old escapee from Genesee Valley Juvenile Detention Center who is accused of killing a 73-year-old woman in 2010.FLINT, MI -- Mark Jones, Jr. was released from a juvenile detention center two weeks before he was accused of killing a 73-year-old woman and sent back to Genesee Valley Regional Center in November 2010.
Today he got out of the juvenile center again, this time by escape.
Jones, at 14, was accused of fatally shooting Merlyne Wray, 73, after breaking into her home on Leland Street near Fenton and Atherton roads on Nov. 17, 2010.
Less than a month earlier, he pleaded no contest to breaking into the apartment of an 80-year-old Burton man. The victim in that case told the Flint Journal in 2010 that Jones somehow opened the door to his apartment, "nonchalantly" walked inside and asked to use his bathroom.
Jones was then arrested after allegedly trying to take the senior's phone.
A referee placed Jones at the Genesee Valley Regional Center “because his parents failed to supervise him,” according to court records. Less than two weeks later, Family Court Judge John A. Gadola released Jones on probation to his mother.
Two weeks later, he was charged as an adult with open murder, felony murder, armed robbery, carjacking, home invasion, carrying a concealed weapon and felony firearm in Wray's slaying.
Awaiting trial, Jones has been held at the juvenile facility until this afternoon, when he escaped while being transported by Genesee Valley Regional Center guards to New Passages Psychological Services on Corunna Road for therapy, police said.
Police at first searched the area of Bradley Avenue and Gibson Street. Flint Police Chief Alvern Lock later said officers were looking for Jones all over the city.
Employees at the detention center would not provide any further details on the escape and director of detention center Fred Woelmer couldn't be reached.
Wray’s daughter, Cathy Klutts of Burton said after her mother's slaying in 2010: "I don’t know why they ever let him out. I hope they will not let him out now."
Reached Friday by phone, Klutts was fuming over Jones' escape.
"I just can't understand how he got out," Klutts said. "It just sucks. It just doesn't make any sense"
She said it adds to a year and a half of frustration in waiting for his trial.
"I want to know why he got out," she said. "This case has gone on two years and now he's out. Who knows if they get him or not. It all sucks."
Anyone with information on Jones' whereabouts is asked to call Flint Police at 810-237-6800.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sun Jun 17, 2012 6:34 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:37 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The Genesee Valley Regional Detention Center was originally a state operated facility. The facility was in disrepair and the sewer system was failing about 2001. The state relinquished the facility and the county led by Ted Hammon took over the facility.
When the stimulus money was first offered, the county tried to get $19 million to demolish and rebuild the facility because of the structural problems. The cost to operate is about $5 million a year, half of which is paid for by the state and the other half by the county. The facility houses approximately 60 youth and the county remodeled one wing to hold females. |
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Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:44 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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burtonguy
How could anything to do with a dangerous escapee in Flint be unclear to Lock? Isn't he the chief of police?
burtonguy
Are the "detention center officials" stated in the article Genesee County Deputies?
Khalil AlHajal | kalhajal@mlive.com
No they weren't deputies. The detention center has its own personnel who were transporting him, Lock said. I haven't been able to get hold of the GVRC, Fred Woelmer, and employees in reception at the center wouldn't say a word.
burtonguy
Then I assume they either are not well trained or were not following their training. Who do they answer to in the chain of command?
qtthush
we have an escapee on the street..that has nothing to lose...he was probably going to the county since he is 16. i can't understand how he escaped.. who could have been transporting him....they guns i'm sure.
burtonguy
What is a detention center official, and why was this scum who is being tried as an adult for murder and has nothing to lose trusted to one? I happen to know the lady who was killed.
Whiteone
Mark Jones 16 last seen in the area of Bradely and Gibson... Seen wearing shackles... May have stolen a black Chevy Express Van 7KQN54...
3sense
Whiteone, if he is wearing shackles, they were not installed properly. I would have one hand in back and one in front with the cuffs under his crotch, just long enough where he can stand up straight, then put 2 foot long leg shackles on him, I don't see how he could out run a turtle.
kalhajal@mlive.com
OK police have released a photo:
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/06/...
Matthew House
As a juvenile justice advocate, I know the dual purpose of the juvenile court: to protect the safety of the community and the best interests of young offenders. The system, when it upholds BOTH of those goals, works extremely well. When it fails to look out for delinquents, undesirable as they may be, the system fails all of us.
Therefore, 98% of the time, my comments are pro-juvenile. This is not one of those times. The concerns about the defendant in this case are, I believe, appropriate. I'd be terrified, too. The juvenile court model, created in 1899, made room for trying kids in adult court in rare circumstances. I argue that we do so too much these days, but even the earliest juvenile court understood it ought to be an option at least in the most extreme circumstances. This case appears to be one such example.
Often, one of the standards for transferring a juvenile to adult court is that he or she is not amenable to rehabilitation. It would be hard to see how this kid, presumably 16 now, could possibly be rehabilitated at all, and almost certainly not before he has to be released after reaching the maximum age to be in the juvenile system.
Furthermore, even if this kid could be rehabilitated successfully, how quickly could that progress realistically happen? This is where the protection of the community has to be respected, because nothing done for the benefit of this young man can justify the risk he poses to society. They take him to therapy, and he bolts away. If that is the threat the community must face so that this kid can go to therapy he probably won't even benefit from anyway -- and can get a break from his cell while he does it -- how can that activity possibly be in the public interest? |
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Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:07 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| The media has reported he was allowed to go to the restroom and he walked out an unlocked door. |
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Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:08 pm |
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westflint
F L I N T O I D
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| People saw this guy walking down the street with handcuffs on. The police were everywhere around here yesterday and did not find him. I heard his parents live in the neighborhood. Getting real scary in West Flint. No matter how hot it is outside, I sleep with my windows locked. Walling told me that people are moving out of Flint because of the economy. What a joke. Everyone around here is moving because of crime. |
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Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:12 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Questions about statements to police kept escaped homicide suspect Mark A. Jones' murder trial on hold
Published: Monday, June 18, 2012, 5:35 PM Updated: Monday, June 18, 2012, 5:39 PM
By Ron Fonger | RFONGER1@mlive.com
FLINT, MI -- Escaped homicide suspect Mark A. Jones, accused of shooting a senior citizen in the back in 2010, has remained in juvenile detention since his arrest as the state Court of Appeals decides whether his statement to police can be used against him.
Jones, 16, ran from two Genesee Valley Regional Center transport guards and escaped custody Friday during a counseling appointment at New Passages Psychological Services in Flint.
Police are continuing to look for Jones, who was still in leg irons when he escaped but who may have stolen a nearby van.
GVRC Director Fred Woelmer said Jones
was at the juvenile center because he has been charged but not convicted or sentenced for the murder of Merlyne Wray.
Wray was killed in November 2010 in her home on Leland Street near Fenton and Atherton roads in Flint.
Jones trial is on hold in Genesee Circuit Court as the state Court of Appeals decides whether Judge Archie Hayman properly ruled that Jones' statement to police can be used against him.
He is the youngest person Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton ever charged with murder.
Circuit Court records say Jones talked to a police detective after a Flint Police Department sergeant told him he needed to cooperate and be completely truthful.
Jones' attorneys said the sergeant suggested police would incarcerate Jones' parents if he did not cooperate.
Court records show Jones -- who was 14 at the hime of his arrest -- was arrested eight times between the ages of 8 and 14 for crimes ranging larceny to breaking and entering to criminal trespass, home invasion and open murder.
Hayman said he saw nothing unreasonable in the way police gained their statement from Jones.
The judge said the police sergeant's statements may have been threatening to Jones but "not threatening to the point that it affected his" freedom to chose whether to make a statement. |
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Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:05 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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B17Bomber
sound's like his parents are worthless like he is.
bodrell
My condolences to the family...I cannot imagine a more horrible way to lose a loved one.
This little psychopath was failed by his parents (let's hope he doesn't have any siblings); he chose to be an evil little coward preying on those weaker than him, then the city was failed *yet again* by inept management and lax handling of dangerous, feral youth.
nochangehere
The residents of Genesee County are unaware of what is going on in the Juvenile Court here. The Probation Officers are being directed by the Director of Juvenile Services to do the minimal amount of services that cost any money. The judges are being given false recommendations based on that Directors cost savings plan. This is all based on the Director's philosophy that "most of THEM will end up in prison anyway". The Court Administration and County officials have been warned in the past. Now the public may finally see the fruits of her labors.
untanglingwebs
This is why Genesee County does not need to run a Juvenile facility. The county bears half of the $5 million price tag for operating this run down and in need of replacement facility. This teen needed to be in a state operated facility where trained psychiatric personnel are on site and there s no need to transport such dangerous youth. The county wanted almost $20 million in stimulus funds to replace this dilapadated facility that I believe houses only 60 youth.
bodrell likes this.
3sense
Cathy, it is a real shame how Flint law enforcement have so little respect for victims. You need to ask if he was handcuffed, if not why, but you will probably get the same no snitch rule Flint is known for.
Ted Jankowski
Am I the only one who sees a pattern here that needs to be stopped immediately. This guy needs to be put in prison. It's clear that treating him as a juvenile is not working.
untanglingwebs likes this.
untanglingwebs
I recently saw a story about teen offenders as young as this young man in special prison wings.
untanglingwebs
I read the entries of this teens case. 11-028887-FC Hayman. The case went to the Court of Appeals in the spring, so he had been adjudicated and could have been placed in another facility. Social Security benefits were redirected in April.
untanglingwebs
He was not sentenced. They are appealing the Walker hearing that was to determine if he made involuntary statements to the Flint Police. This case has been in court for over a year. There are 7 counts pending against this teen.
2 Days Ago
Collin
"A referee placed Jones at the Genesee Valley Regional Center “because his parents failed to supervise him,”"
What a surprise, I never would have guessed that this was the case here.
gogroup
Some incorrigible kids cannot be supervised just incarcerated; parents can only do so much; |
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Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:18 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Ron Fonger | RFONGER1@mlive.com
Fred Woelmer gave no indication that Jones' mother did anything other than show up for her son's counseling.
Flint MI USA
Ron - were you able to confirm the keys were left in the black Express Van? Also, can you find out the specific timeline of events. I was told that the escape happened at or around 4:25 pm. Is that true? Or did it happen earlier? Also, WHO told PD the Express van only had about one gallon of fuel in it and supposedly $400? Lots of questions, yes. My first question today remains were one or, two guards assigned to him?
The first rule of prisoner transports - NEVER let the prisoner out of your sight. MDOC guards are all armed.
whiteone
Ron- Do you know if was it typical for mom to be at counseling sessions?
Ron Fonger | RFONGER1@mlive.com
Woelmer said she has been attending the sessions.
Whiteone
Sounds like mom may have been in on the escape... I hope not, but you never can tell these days.
Lesson to the GVRC staff, you are working with in some cases hardend criminals not little boys. You can never let your guard down for one second... Next time it could be your life.
I hope the staff memeber is offered training in lieu of being fired.
Flint MI USA
Good morning Ron. I was under the impression there was a male and female security (guard) with him when he escaped. Is this true?
Thank you.
Ron Fonger | RFONGER1@mlive.com
There were two transport guards with Jones. I don't know if they were male and female.
Flint MI USA
I was told there was a male and a female guard. Also told that the male was in the green van looking for suspect by himself. I'm presuming the female guard was on foot while he was driving around.
The timeline of events will tell the entire story. The fact "line of sight" was not kept by security personnel tells the other part of story.
Do we know the level of experience by the two security personnel? Where are they from? Whats their story? This whole story (event) does not add up. |
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Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:33 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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First 911 call from Genesee Valley Regional Detention Center came nine minutes after first call regarding Mark A. Jones escape
Published: Thursday, June 21, 2012, 4:31 PM Updated: Thursday, June 21, 2012, 4:32 PM
By David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com
(Photo provided by Flint Police)Police are searching for Mark A. Jones Jr., a 16-year-old escapee from Genesee Valley Juvenile Detention Center who is accused of killing a 73-year-old woman in 2010.
FLINT, MI -- A Genesee Valley Regional Detention Center guard called 911 nearly 10 minutes after an initial call from a person who reported seeing someone running in handcuffs and shackles nearly a quarter-mile away, according to the Flint 911 director.
Flint 911 Director Steven Todd said the first call came at 4:21 p.m. about escapee Mark A. Jones, 16, wearing handcuffs and shackles running in the area of Bradley Avenue and Gibson Street.
The first call from a detention center guard didn't come until 4:30 p.m., according to Todd.
Jones, who is charged with murder, escaped Friday afternoon while he was attending a session at New Passages psychological center on Corunna Road.
Detention center Director Fred Woelmer could not be reached for comment on the 911 call.
Flint police, Michigan State Police, Genesee County Sheriff's Department and FBI are all searching for Jones. Officials have said they believe Jones is still in the city.
CRIMESTOPPERS is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. The number is 1-800-422-JAIL. |
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:45 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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getyokids
The agency that hires the employees is called Wolverine
3sense
It makes one wonder if these so called guards were not in on it. 10 minutes after someone on the outside called 911. It seems like someone applying for that job would have to pass a competence test.
Imjustsayin
Somebody needs to be fired/ |
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:51 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Flint Police Operations just announced they caught Mark Jones, but no details as of yet! |
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:23 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Neighbors shocked, relieved after escaped homicide suspect Mark Jones caught in northeast Flint
Published: Thursday, June 21, 2012, 11:54 PM Updated: Friday, June 22, 2012, 5:15 AM
By Khalil AlHajal | kalhajal@mlive.com
FLINT, MI – Residents of the neighborhood where escaped juvenile homicide suspect Mark Jones was caught tonight said state troopers and city officers swarmed the home on Cecil Drive near Carpenter Road around 10 p.m. and took away the 16-year-old.
Police confirmed he was arrested at the home without incident but have not released any further details.
Michelle Storey said she was shocked the teen was hiding out in her neighborhood and relieved that he was caught.
"You would never think that he'd be right here," said Storey, 41. "I'm happy (he was captured)...
"I wonder who he knows out here."
Residents of the home where neighbors said he was arrested did not answer their door Thursday night.
Unique Johnson, 11, said she saw police surround the house, enter and leave with a young man.
"I was scared," she said.
She said she'd seen the same young man riding his bike up and down Cecil Drive over the past two days.
Jones, at 14, was accused of fatally shooting Merlyne Wray, 73, after breaking into her south-side home on Leland Street near Fenton and Atherton roads on Nov. 17, 2010.
He was arrested shortly after the slaying and lodged at Genesee Valley Regional Center juvenile facility, but escaped custody on Friday during a trip to a counseling center on Corunna Road, slipping out a back door after telling guards he was going to the bathroom.
Police believed he stole a van shortly after escaping, but knew he was still in the city.
A special fugitive team of city and state police had since been searching for Jones with help from the FBI.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton has said he would seek to lodge Jones at the county jail rather than the juvenile facility once he was caught, but police said that for now, he's lodged at Genesee Valley Regional Center.
Jones now faces escaping from juvenile facility and unlawful driveaway of motor vehicle charges in addition to murder and other charges stemming from Wray's slaying.
"Good they got that little (expletive). That was somebody's grandmama," said another neighbor who was drunk and unwilling to be identified. |
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Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:58 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Law enforcement officials 'relieved' that escapee Mark A. Jones caught
Published: Friday, June 22, 2012, 10:10 AM Updated: Friday, June 22, 2012, 10:10 AM
By David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com
FLINT, MI -- Police were searching homes on Thursday evening of associates of a 16-year-old escapee charged with murder when they were tipped off that the boy may be staying at a home on Cecil Drive, according to the Michigan State Police assistant Flint post commander.
Around 9:40 p.m. Thursday, Mark A. Jones was arrested without incident at a home on Cecil Drive, south of Carpenter Road nearly a week after he escaped from New Passages psychological center on Corunna Road in Flint. Jones now is lodged in the Genesee County Jail, in an isolated cell and on 23-hour lockdown, said Sheriff Robert Pickell.
Lt. Jason Teddy, assistant post commander, declined to detail just where the tip came from, but said police came across the information as they were checking homes where Jones was known to frequent or where people he knew lived.
"It's a good thing," said Flint Police Chief Alvern Lock. "Anytime you got a murder suspect out you have concerns about the safety of the community itself. When you have someone like that out residents have concerns, and rightly so."
Jones faces murder charges in the death of 73-year-old Merlyne Wray, who was killed in November 2010 at her home on Leland Street near Fenton and Atherton roads. He is the youngest person Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton ever charged with murder.
Jones was lodged at the Genesee Valley Regional Detention Center and was going over to New Passages for a counseling session last Friday afternoon. He escaped out the back door after he said he had to go to the bathroom.
Flint police, MSP and the Flint Area Narcotics Group were involved in the arrest, Teddy said. It is believed that a woman who was a friend of Jones and her two children were inside the home at the time. Leyton said the prosecutor's office will review the case to see if anyone will be charged for aiding Jones during his time as a fugitive.
Pickell said state law requires to keep Jones out of sight and out of earshot of any of the adult prisoners.
"He'll be treated similarly to the serial slasher (Elias) Abuelazam," Pickell said. "I'm not unmindful of the fact that this kid is a murderer and an escapee."
Leyton said he is pleased that Jones is off the streets and offered praise for the FBI's "technical assistance" and the other law enforcement agencies involved.
Fred Woelmer, director of the detention center, said "everybody here is relieved that he got caught before he hurt anyone." Woelmer said he is encouraging the staff to follow policies and procedures in transporting detainees and still is considering disciplinary action.
Pickell said Genesee County Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Jamie Curtis asked him to conduct an analysis of the incident and present the detention center with a corrective course of action. |
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Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:53 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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'Rough area' where escaped homicide suspect Mark A. Jones found needs more attention, official says
Published: Friday, June 22, 2012, 4:00 PM Updated: Friday, June 22, 2012, 5:43 PM
By Kristin Longley | klongley1@mlive.com
FLINT, MI -- The area where police caught escaped homicide suspect Mark A. Jones on Thursday night is "pretty rough," Flint City Councilman Bryant Nolden said today.
Drug activity and gunfire are common in the neighborhood around Cecil Drive and Carpenter Road, where 16-year-old Jones was found and arrested about 9:40 p.m., Nolden said.
"I'm extremely excited they were able to catch the young man," Nolden said. "Cecil Drive is a pretty rough area. When I found out police were there I was surprised. I was just in that area yesterday talking some residents about some other concerns."
Nolden for years has been a vocal advocate for more law enforcement surveillance in the area around Cecil Drive just south of Carpenter Road in the city's 3rd Ward, which he represents. At one point, the area had a security camera that helped deter crime, he said, but its no longer there.
"We really need to curb the violence in that area. There's shootings, drugs," he said. "Every chance I get I talk to people about it. We really need to do some targeted enforcement in that area."
Jones faces murder charges in the death of 73-year-old Merlyne Wray, who was killed in November 2010 at her home on Leland Street near Fenton and Atherton roads.
Flint police, Michigan State Police and the Flint Area Narcotics Group were involved in Jones' arrest.
It is believed that a woman and her two children were inside the home at the time, according to police. The prosecutor's office will review the case to see if anyone will be charged for aiding Jones during his time as a fugitive, officials said.
Jones now is lodged in the Genesee County Jail, in an isolated cell and on 23-hour lockdown, said county Sheriff Robert Pickell. |
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Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:54 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I have heard that similar comments have been made by public officials!
intheknow767
They have a South Side Task Force which is made up of special police and prosecutors. As it was explained to me, they've given up on the north side in hopes they will all extinguish themselves and thus cease to exist. Those are not my words, they come directly from law enforcement and prosecutors. |
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Fri Jun 22, 2012 5:57 pm |
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