Armstrong jail board to discuss escape behind closed doors

The panel that oversees the Armstrong County Jail meets for the first time today since an inmate escaped and allegedly killed a Rayburn resident last week — but is banning the public from attending.

The jail's board plans to meet at 1 p.m. behind closed doors in what is being called an emergency executive session, to discuss “all of the policies, information and proceedings leading up to the incident,” said board president Rich Fink, an Armstrong County commissioner.

“Our primary purpose is to consult with our solicitor,” Fink said. “No decisions are going to be made at that meeting. But at this point, our solicitor is advising us to not really comment on the situation until we meet because we don't have real conclusive answers at this point.”

Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said under Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act, the board is not permitted to go into executive session to discuss jail policies.

“This meeting is happening because of a very terrible situation that occurred in the county,” Melewsky said. “I think they need to be more forthcoming as soon as possible.”

Melewsky said the board can't bar the public just by saying it will discuss “personnel.” It has to set forth specific reasons to hold a private meeting.

“They need to let the public know why they would be excluded from this board's discussion,” Melewsky said. “Their discussions may be completely appropriate for an executive session. But based on what we understand so far, we don't know exactly what they will be discussing. That's what's inappropriate.”

She said if the board limits its discussion to issues such individual employees' responsibilities and how they handled the escape, pending litigation resulting from the incident or District Attorney Scott Andreassi's investigation, the executive session could be justified, she said.

To be discussed is the escape of inmate Robert Edward Crissman Jr., 38, of Boggs.

Crissman, a jail trustee, walked out of an unlocked door while working a food service detail, then allegedly killed Rayburn resident Tammy Long and stole her truck. He was captured Friday morning by state police and faces charges of homicide, theft, aggravated assault and escape.

“Everybody's interest is to find out and try to put our arms around how this happened, the chances of it happening again and what actions we need to take,” Fink said. “Those are things we need to look at. We're in the preliminary stages now.”

Fink would not elaborate on if the board would be discussing any specific policies or procedures, or if they would be discussing any employee matters.

Commissioner Bob Bower said they will discuss personnel, but did not elaborate if other issues, such as inmate trustee status or exact details of Crissman's escape, would be discussed.

Solicitor Jason Lewis, and board member Dave Battaglia, chairman of the county commissioners, did not return calls. Other members, county Controller Myra Miller, Sheriff Bill Rupert and Andreassi declined to comment on the meeting.

More than a half-dozen telephone messages and emails seeking comment from jail Warden David Hogue since last Friday were not answered.

“This has been a terrible tragedy,” Fink said, noting that he personally knew Long. “But the details of what drove Crissman to walk off and the details of how it all happened need to be examined, in depth by this board, to determine if changes need to be made to keep it from happening again. It'd be premature to comment on anything further.”

Brad Pedersen is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-543-1303, ext. 1337, or bpedersen@tribweb.com.