Sheriff billed for cost of catching escapee

GREAT FALLS – The final bill from Lewis and Clark County to recoup costs it incurred searching for an escaped convict is about $8,000 less than Cascade County officials expected.

Sheriff David Castle said the bill he received this week from Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Cheryl Leidle was for $10,120, not the $18,500 bill he had earlier said he was expecting and prepared to pay.

Leidle said Thursday the revised bill was the “result of discussions with Sheriff Castle and is, as far as we are concerned, fair and reasonable.”

“We’re not here to break the bank of any county, but there was a minimum amount that we were going to ask for under the circumstances,” she added.

The bill stems from the Jan. 11 escape of inmate Dueston Haggard from a prison transport van just north of Helena. He was arrested about 15 hours after his escape, which wasn’t noticed until the van taking inmates from Great Falls to Deer Lodge arrived at its destination.

Haggard, 28, was being transported to prison to serve a 40-year sentence for burglary, but he is also facing murder charges.

He was arrested at a Helena motel after authorities traced calls he made to family members.

Investigators determined that Haggard used a key that was hidden in his shoe to unlock his shackles, and that Cascade County jail employees had ignored proper procedure by failing to strip-search the 11 inmates before they boarded the van.

Leidle earlier called for the reimbursement, saying the Cascade County Sheriff’s Department needed to be held accountable.