COVINGTON, La. -- The designers of the St. Tammany Parish Jail are back in Covington this week to answer questions about how security of the jail.
Monday afternoon, St. Tammany Sheriff Jack Strain met with the media to discuss how accused murderer Carlos Rodriguez broke out of the Covington jail on Saturday, February 20, and who is to blame.
"There's no question that human error contributed to this escape," Strain told reporters. The Sheriff also blamed the designers of the jail, "It's when several things like this occur that makes this catastrophic," Strain concluded.
After a week on the run, St. Tammany deputies, Kenner officers, U.S. Marshals and FBI agents combined to capture Rodriguez hiding in the attic of a Kenner church.
Detectives said at the press conference, they had so flooded the area around Kenner, Rodriguez couldn't get away.
"He's well known to the Kenner area," St. Tammany Detective Keith Canizaro said. "He's a very charismatic guy. He had a lot of friends, pumped a lot of hands, lived his life in that area, and was quite familiar to a lot of residents."
Ultimately, Canizaro said, dozens of tips from the community led them to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was arrested without incident, and detectives said, they do not believe anyone affiliated with the church knew where Rodriguez was hiding, or aided him in any way.
Deputies also arrest another man for aiding in Rodriguez' escape. Sheriff Strain said 22-year old Patrick Matthews of Slidell tried to escape with Rodriguez, but didn't make it out.
Matthews was sentenced to life in prison on a burglary charge, after being labeled multiple offender.
Now that Rodriguez is back behind bars, the focus returns to how to better secure the St. Tammany Parish Jail.
Rodriguez is the fifth inmate in two separate incidents to break out of the jail in the past year. All five men were in jail accused of either murder or attempted murder.
When asked this afternoon how much responsibility he feels for the escapes, Strain answered, "As Sheriff, it is my responsibility. How confident are you that the floor beneath your feet is not going to fall? How confident are you that the floor above your head won't crash down and kill all of us? You have to depend that people who are paid tremendous amounts of dollars are best suited to design and construct buildings for the purpose of holding people in."
Strain said he didn't understand why this escape drew so much media attention.
"Since the day the first jail was built," Strain said, "and I don't know when, but since the day the first jail was built, there have been escapes."
He said, since the Rodriguez escape, five other prisoners have attempted to escape his jail.
"I've pointed to, for a couple years now, issues at that jail," Strain added, "and I've said many times that that jail has the potential to be all of our worst nightmare."
Strain said he hopes to have answers to his safety concerns at the jail, perhaps has early as Wednesday.
