What to Know
- 25-year-old Jerry Mercado escaped from Carl Robinson Correctional Institution in Enfield on Jan. 7, possibly by stowing away under a vehicle
- Mercado was found 10 days later, in Canton, Georgia, and taken into custody.
- Five prison employees have been placed on leave as the Department of Correction investigates the escape
Five Connecticut Department of Correction employees have been placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into the escape of a prisoner on Jan. 7 who managed to make it all the way to Georgia, where he was found 10 days later.
Officials from the state Department of Correction said the five employees at Carl Robinson Correctional Institution, who have worked for the department anywhere from two years to 27 years, were placed on leave due to “preliminary findings” of an ongoing administrative investigation into the escape.
They are receiving pay, pending results of the investigation.
Police said the prisoner, 25-year-old Jerry Mercado, might have escaped from the prison by stowing away under a vehicle. Commissioner Scott Semple said two vehicles were on the property that day - a state police van and a garbage truck.
Mercado was detained at a gas station in the Atlanta suburb of Canton, Georgia on Jan. 17 after the U.S. Marshals Service acted on a tip, officials said.
Mercado, who is from Hartford, was serving a three-year sentence for third-degree burglary charges when he escaped. Officials from the Department of Correction said he is classified as a "low risk" offender.
Carl Robinson is primarily a dormitory-style facility that houses around 1,500 inmates on Shaker Road in Enfield.
