Suspected Armed Robber Back In Jail Sheriff Promises Paperwork Mix-Up Will Not Happen Again At County Jail
A suspected armed robber who was mistakenly released from the Spokane County Jail is back behind bars.
John B. Obney, 54, was caught Wednesday, more than four days after a paperwork snafu set him free.
Obney was arrested April 9, the same day he is accused of robbing a U.S. Bank branch at 902 W. Garland.
Jail staff was given paperwork placing a U.S. marshal’s hold on Obney, which should have prevented his release, authorities said. The papers somehow never ended up in Obney’s booking file, and he was freed two days later, on April 11.
Obney didn’t venture far.
Deputies picked him up Wednesday morning at Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he was trying to get psychiatric help. Staff at the hospital alerted authorities.
Obney later confessed to the robbery in a jail interview, saying he stole nearly $3,000 from the bank.
“I didn’t want to. I’m sorry I did it,” he said.
He said he has no children, and his wife left him three years ago.
“I don’t have anybody to blame but me,” Obney said. “Basically, after she left, I just gave up.”
Obney said he served 14 years in a California prison for armed robbery and kidnapping but insisted, “I never hurt anyone.”
Asked why he didn’t run after the jail blunder set him free, Obney said he didn’t want to make matters worse.
“I was trying to get help, that’s why I was at the hospital. Besides, I’m too old to be running.”
Sheriff John Goldman said Wednesday the paperwork mix-up “must not and will not happen again.
“The more steps there are in a process, the more opportunity there is for error,” he said. “We are looking at ways to simplify the process.”
If someone bothered to open Obney’s file, the seriousness of the criminal case would have caused jail staff to question the release, Goldman said.
“This was someone who was clearly a dangerous threat to the community. This never should have happened,” the sheriff said.
“From now on, we need to be making sure that documents are reviewed for content and not just treated as paperwork.”
Staff in the jail’s release area let Obney go Friday night after no formal charges had been filed by the close of business hours. There was no marshal’s hold in Obney’s booking file and employees had no way of knowing the hold had been requested.
Capt. Jim Hill, who supervised the jail, blamed “human error” for Obney’s release.
“We don’t like what happened, and we don’t want it to happen again,” Hill said. “Obviously the sheriff is very unhappy with us.”
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