MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The warden of a maximum-security prison in Portage and her two top aides have been placed on paid leave after two inmates escaped and fled to Illinois.
Columbia Correctional Institution Warden Susan Novak, Deputy Warden Lucas Weber and Security Director Brian Gustke were placed on leave this week while the escape is investigated, the Journal Sentinel reported.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Anna Neal says lower-ranking employees are also on paid leave during the investigation, but she didn’t say how many.
Inmates Thomas Deering and James Newman escaped the Portage prison April 16. Authorities said they scaled two security fences and used clothing to breach the barbed wire.
They were captured a day later after they visited a homeless shelter in Rockford, Illinois.
Deering was convicted of kidnapping, burglary and three counts of second-degree sexual assault in Milwaukee County in 2001, according to online court records. Newman was convicted in Jackson County in 2016 of kidnapping, escape and theft.
