An inmate in the jail is facing a felony charge for holding a walk-in freezer closed while a food service worker was inside, according to court documents.
As a result of the Jan. 19 incident, a different food service worker was fired.
Prosecutors charged Randall E. Hanson II in Island County Superior Court Jan. 24 with unlawful imprisonment.
Hanson is a convicted child molester who is serving a punitive jail sentence for violating the terms of a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative. Under the program, much of a sex offender’s sentence is suspended on the condition that he or she receive treatment and abide by certain rules.
Hanson had repeatedly violated the conditions of his SSOSA, including an unapproved relationship with a woman who had minor children. Last year, the deputy prosecutor asked that his SSOSA be revoked and Hanson sent to prison, but a judge instead imposed a jail sanction of 200 days behind bars.
Due to the alleged incident in the jail, the deputy prosecutor filed a second motion Jan. 25 to revoke Hanson’s SSOSA.
A deputy with the Island County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident in the jail. Two employees of Summit Food Service were working in the kitchen with three different inmates, including Hanson.
One of the employees reported that she was held against her will in the cooler twice. The woman said the first time she didn’t realize the door was being held until she heard Hanson giggling. The second time, she “had to use her full body weight” to escape from the freezer because he was holding it closed, the report states.
The woman said Hanson had given her a birthday card earlier in the month and she reported it to the jail chief.
The deputy reviewed video of the incident, which shows Hanson appearing to hold the door shut, the report states. The video shows another food service employee and a different inmate looking over at Hanson but doing nothing to stop him, the deputy wrote.
When questioned, Hanson said he was just being playful and didn’t mean to scare the woman, the report states. He claimed that the other food worker had previously played the same “joke” on him.
In an interview, Jail Chief Jose Briones said he revoked the security clearance of the male food service worker and the man was subsequently fired by the company.
Briones explained that the jail staff has a process to determine if inmates are good fits for working in food service or other areas of the facility. The staff considers an inmate’s willingness to follow directions and, above all, the safety risk.
Although Hanson is a convicted sex offender, he was deemed to be appropriate for the work since his victim was a young child.
Another of the inmates working in the kitchen is accused of being a serial arsonist; Briones explained that no reactive chemicals are used in the kitchen. A third inmate worker was charged with assault for choking his wife.
