Jan 7, 2008 6:10 pm US/Eastern
Authorities Speak To Sharpton About Escaped Inmate
Received Request To Arrange Otis Blunt's Surrender
NEWARK (AP) ―
A day after the Rev. Al Sharpton said he was asked to arrange the surrender of an escaped inmate, the Union County police chief said he believes the civil rights leader could arrange a peaceful surrender for Otis Blunt.
Officials said Sharpton's office spoke with Union County authorities Monday about a request Sharpton said he received to arrange the surrender of an escaped inmate.
Sharpton issued a statement Sunday night that he had been contacted by people in touch with Blunt, one of two inmates who escaped Dec. 15 from the Union County Jail in Elizabeth.
Late Monday afternoon, Sharpton said members of his National Action Network were traveling "in regard to the request made by fugitive Otis Blunt that he would like to surrender himself."
In the statement from Miami, Sharpton added, "I am prepared to move within the next 24-48 hours to personally see if I can physically facilitate Mr. Blunt's request."
Blunt made the request through a liaison, Sharpton spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger said; she declined to identify that person. County Police Chief Daniel Vaniska said his office called Sharpton's staff Monday morning.
"We're just waiting," to see if it can be arranged, Vaniska said midday Monday.
Vaniska said he didn't know who contacted Sharpton on behalf of Blunt.
Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow complained that Sharpton's organization did not contact his office, and urged Sharpton to arrange Blunt's immediate surrender.
"I am upset that Reverend Sharpton is waiting between '24-48 hours to personally see if (he) can physically facilitate Mr. Blunt's request,"' Romankow said in a statement. "Meanwhile, the escapee is still on the loose," he said, noting Blunt was indicted for shooting a robbery victim in the head.
In a statement Sunday night, Sharpton said, "I have been asked by them to help facilitate his safe surrender." He added, "I have contacted law enforcement to see if I can be helpful towards that end."
Blunt, 32, of Toms River, and Jose Espinosa, 20, of Elizabeth, made a daring escape from the jail -- the first breakout since the jail opened in 1986.
The prosecutor's office, which is investigating the escape, said the two inmates used photos of bikini-clad women to hide holes they dug through the cinderblock walls of their adjoining cells in a high-security unit. They jumped onto a lower roof, from which they leaped over a 25-foot-high fence topped with razor wire.
The inmates left a cheeky thank-you note that named one of their guards, Rudolph Zurick, who committed suicide Jan. 2, the day he was to speak to investigators about the escape. Zurick, 40, shot himself at his home in South Amboy and had been cooperating with the investigation, his lawyer said. He was buried Monday.
The note, signed with a smiley face, thanked Zurick for helping them, although authorities have said there was no evidence of assistance from Zurick, a guard with a 14-year unblemished record.
Blunt was awaiting trial for robbery and weapons offenses. Espinosa was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to manslaughter in a 2005 drive-by shooting.
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