Inmate escapes from snow detail

A Geiger Corrections Center inmate who was recently ordered to return to a more secure facility escaped Wednesday morning after he was allowed to clean up snow with a work crew in the South Perry neighborhood.

Jason W. Breedlove, 37, is not considered a risk to the community, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

He was being held at Geiger on a 1999 warrant related to a misdemeanor conviction for driving under the influence, but Idaho officials contacted jail staff on Tuesday and said Breedlove had a new felony warrant in Idaho, Sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Reagan said in a news release.

Breedlove is charged with several property crimes in Kootenai County, according to court records.

A jail employee completed paperwork prohibiting Breedlove from being released before the warrant was resolved and advised a classification deputy “that he should be returned to the more secure jail.”

Instead, Breedlove was allowed to leave Geiger with a work crew to clean up snow at a Spokane Transit Authority bus stop at East Hartson Avenue and South Arthur Street. A corrections deputy supervising the crew found Breedlove’s discarded vest and cap and called police.

Jail administrators have launched an investigation, Reagan said. Breedlove is now wanted on an escape charge in Spokane County.

Breedlove, 5-foot-6 and 200 pounds, previously lived in the 700 block of North McDonald Road in Spokane Valley.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.