South Dakota Prison Roll Away

Is there a problem keeping South Dakota prisoners behind bars?  5 inmates have walked away from South Dakota prisons and jails in the last 11 weeks.  Enough so that Attorney General Marty Jackley has identified it as a “problem”.  I think that’s fair.

Authorities in Sioux Falls are still searching for a man after they say he “walked away” from the South Dakota state penitentiary Monday night.

According to the original press release 30-year-old Travis Thorgren “walked away” from a minimum security unit of the Jameson Annex at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls.  He is 5-foot-10-inches tall and 200 pounds.  There was no mention of him being in a wheelchair.  Oops.  Thorgren is currently serving a five-year sentence for grand theft out of Lincoln County.

According to KELO TV S.D. Secretary of Corrections Denny Kaemingk said that not mentioning the fact that Thorgren was in a wheelchair was “An oversight”.  Really?  No one noticed?  You don’t think this might be important?  If the guy had a patch over one eye, a hook for a hand, a peg leg, and said “Arrrr” a lot, would that be worth mentioning?  How about the fact that they called it a “Walk away”?  When it all reality we now know that wasn’t the case at all.  I’m not meaning to be insensitive but I’m guessing that maybe the real reason they didn't mention the wheelchair thing is they were hoping that they could get this guy back before the public started scutinizing why so many people are walking and "wheeling" away from South Dakota prisons and jails?  And before the jokes started to fly.  We were asking on facebook what people knew about the rumor of a guy in a wheelchair “walking away” for the State Pen.  Here are a few of the responses:

*Tina Howe - He shouldn't be too difficult to spot.

*Billie Dean - He wont get too far if he is.

*Wendy Metzger - Lets just toss a bunch of sticks all over town. He'll get stuck on one eventually.

*Michael Junker - Wendy, that's horribly funny, yet I feel kind of bad for laughing.

The comments went a bit off color from there.  Again, this is not meant to be insensitive.  It’s meant to ask:  Do you think there is a problem with our South Dakota Prison system?

By the way, if you have information as to where Travis Thorgren may have rolled off to, please, call police.