Editorial: Unfathomable release

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2003 | 8:38 a.m.

Ronald Dean Garren was released from the Clark County Detention Center sometime on Tuesday. But Garren wasn't supposed to be let go. Garren, who was captured in Missouri on Oct. 14, is wanted in the shooting death of George Weber of Pahrump. Garren somehow walked out of the detention center when several other prisoners were released. It was only after Nye County sheriff's deputies came to pick up Garren on Tuesday that Metro Police, which operates the jail, realized a prisoner was missing.

It is incomprehensible that someone like Garren, especially when you also consider his past record, could find his way out of jail. Garren, who goes by the nickname "Shotgun," was on parole after having served almost 13 years in a Nevada state prison for a number of armed robberies in Las Vegas. He shot one individual during a robbery. While Garren is suspected of being involved in the murder of Weber, police also believe he is responsible for robberies in Las Vegas and Pahrump.

Fortunately, Metro Police caught Garren on Wednesday. There will be an Internal Affairs investigation into Garren's release and the detention center will review its policies and procedures. Paul Martin, chief of the detention center, notes that 52,649 people were incarcerated last year and, of those, 17 were accidentally released. So far this year 14 have been accidentally released. Metro Police's review of its procedures at the jail should be exhaustive and the necessary corrections in policies should be immediately made so that unauthorized releases, especially involving someone as dangerous as Garren, don't happen again.