Allison Wood | The Gazette

MEDINA — An illegal alien from Honduras, who was arrested May 1 on suspicion of selling marijuana and narcotics at a Wadsworth apartment complex, could not be taken to the Medina County Jail to await deportation. There apparently weren’t any beds.

Reynaldo Roblendo, 38, was released, Wadsworth police reported, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents weren’t able to pick him up until the following Wednesday.

Wadsworth police reported they were told there were no beds available at the Medina County Jail the night of May 1, a Friday. If Roblendo had been incarcerated, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would have taken him into custody Monday.

Instead, police picked him up at his Wadsworth home, 585 Seville Road, and federal agents took him into custody Wednesday morning, police reported.

Other departments, including Brunswick, Medina and the Medina County Sheriff’s Office, have reported having to release arrested individuals because of bed shortages at the jail. Some of those arrested and released, such as Roblendo, were charged with felonies like trafficking in drugs.

Space crunch

Sheriff Neil Hassinger said the bed shortage is more common because budget cuts forced the February layoffs of 10 corrections officers and the closing of two 36-bed pods.

“It really puts a crimp on our operation,” he said.

Police departments now must call the jail to see if there is room; if not, the person may be released. Hassinger said there are exceptions, such as if a person is accused of a violent crime or if another cot can be squeezed into one of the pods.

“If they’re dangerous, we’ll make room,” he said.

Those who get turned away are almost always men since there are empty beds in the female pod, Hassinger said. Currently, there is a maximum of 54 female beds and 130 male beds available in the open pods.

When it gets crowded, some men can be issued cots in the pod common areas, but there is a limit to how many can be placed inside, he said.

Hassinger said one pod was opened temporarily last weekend, but it required paying corrections officers overtime, an expense the agency cannot afford.

While he said he could recall the laid-off corrections officers, it would come at the cost of laying off road patrol deputies, who cover calls and handle accidents.

Police, courts

Medina Police Chief Dennis Hanwell said not having the power to put someone in jail makes it harder for officers to stop fights or quell other violent behaviors.

“We’ve lost that bargaining power,” he said. “We have no method to remove them.”

This can be especially problematic for cases of domestic violence, because if the suspect is not incarcerated, he or she likely will go right back home, he said.

Hanwell said there have been a few times when officers had to release people who were arrested on felony charges. In one case, a man reportedly was forging checks to fund a trip to Florida. Since police were unable to hold him, Hanwell said it is believed the man left for Florida.

Brunswick Police Chief Carl DeForest said his department has experienced similar problems. Although there have been no serious incidents, he worries police will have to release more people as domestic violence and drunken driving arrests increase in the summer.

Medina Municipal Judge Dale Chase said the changes at the jail have forced the court to more carefully plan who gets jail time each day. For example, he said he is more reluctant to send people to jail for failure to pay fines or for probation violations.

Another option he has is to release someone a few days early to make room for someone else.

“We’re usually able to get people over to the jail,” Chase said. “Each decision is made on an individual basis.”

Chase’s court is assigned 28 beds in the jail at one time and he receives a daily update. Weekends are the busiest time for the jail since those with three-day sentences serve them then.

Despite the changes, he said they haven’t had a great impact on the court’s operations.

“We haven’t stopped arresting people on warrants,” Chase said.

Wadsworth Municipal Judge Stephen McIlvaine said he also had to make changes to his court’s operation, such as trying to delay when a person reports to the jail to ensure there will be an open bed. The court also has lowered bonds to a point a defendant can pay it.

“We are also looking at home arrest in lieu of jail,” McIlvaine said. “If it’s what we have to do, it’s what we have to do.”

The bed shortage also means police departments, courts and jail officials must work closely together to ensure everyone who belongs in jail will be incarcerated, he said.

Contact Allison Wood at (330) 721-4050 or allisonwood@ohio.net.