Pubdate: Tue, 24 Jul 2001
Source: Blade, The (OH)
Copyright: 2001 The Blade
Contact:  http://www.toledoblade.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/48
Author: Jennifer Feehan

OVERDOSE ENDS WORK OF INMATES AT SHELTER

BOWLING GREEN - Because an inmate doing community service work at the Wood 
County dog shelter overdosed on drugs he stole from an animal control van, 
Dog Warden Paula Hamman said her agency no longer will allow inmates to 
work at the shelter.

"I am ceasing the program, and it will never happen again," Ms. Hamman said 
yesterday. "I've had too many problems. This was the most serious one we've 
had thus far, but not the only problem we've had."

Since January, 2000, inmates from the NorthWest Community Corrections 
Center, an alternative to prison for nonviolent felony offenders, have been 
providing free labor to places like the dog shelter, the historical center, 
and the humane society.

But after Friday's incident, Ms. Hamman said, they won't be back.

Johnny Sizemore, Jr., 20, of Sibina, Ohio, had been mowing grass and 
washing vehicles at the dog shelter Friday morning when he apparently stole 
an unknown quantity of tranquilizers and barbiturates from an unlocked 
animal control van and injected himself shortly after noon.

According to police reports, another inmate who had been working with 
Sizemore found him outside the dog shelter leaning on the building, passed out.

He said he woke him up, and the two headed back to the corrections center, 
but Sizemore collapsed on the way.

Sizemore was taken to Wood County Hospital, then transferred to Medical 
College of Ohio Hospitals, Toledo, where he was discharged Saturday. No 
charges have been filed, but the incident remains under investigation, said 
Bowling Green police Lt. Brad Conner.

James Wichtman, director of the corrections center, said officials were in 
the process of "unsuccessfully discharging" Sizemore yesterday. He will be 
returned to Scioto County, where he was sentenced for a receiving stolen 
property conviction. He could be sent to prison.

Mr. Wichtman said as part of the rehabilitation services offered at the 
11/2-year-old corrections center, offenders are required to complete 30 
hours of largely unsupervised community service. None are sent out on work 
assignments until they have been there at least 30 days, he said.

"It's a service to the community as much as to the offenders," he said.

Ms. Hamman said she was wary about the program initially but found the 
workers to be trustworthy, not to mention a lot of help to an agency with a 
small staff.

"In general, if we had something that needed to be done and we couldn't 
quite get to it, they were doing it," she said.

The inmates did jobs ranging from shoveling sidewalks and feeding the dogs 
to alphabetizing dog licenses and assembling information kits for people 
who adopt dogs.

Ms. Hamman said the dog shelter began having problems with some of the 
workers in February or March. Small items came up missing. Policies were 
not being followed. The drug theft and overdose was the worst.

"This was, for me, the straw that broke the camel's back, and it won't 
happen again," she said.

Ms. Hamman said the van had been left unlocked, but it was parked in an 
area that was inaccessible to the public.

Mr. Wichtman said upwards of 90 percent of the offenders who come to the 
center abuse chemicals. Drug and alcohol counseling is part of their 
rehabilitation. "We're dealing with individuals who are chemically 
dependent, and we are constantly concerned about them," he said. "Relapse 
is part of reality in many instances."

Mr. Wichtman said he was not aware the dog shelter was dropping out of the 
program.

"It's unfortunate because the county did benefit substantially from the 
work that our men did," Mr. Wichtman said.
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