CINCINNATI — An inmate from River City Correctional Center escaped custody while being treated at UCMC Sunday. River City Correctional Center's Executive Director Scott McVey said he was taken to the hospital for a medical emergency.
Eric Fiebig, 44, walked out of the hospital around 6 p.m, investigators said.
Fiebig is described as a white male, 5'9" in height and weighing 160 lbs.
His escape has one Cincinnati lawmaker asking questions.
"I wondered what actually occurred. Was is a staffing issue, was it an individual, negligence? What occurred in that situation," said State Representative Cecil Thomas.
Thomas represents District 25. He met with McVey and his staff a week and half ago to talk about the recent escapes and the challenges they are facing.
“They got challenges in a number of other areas. They’re attempting to address those challenges, but the question is will they be able to assure the community that public safety should not be a concern," Thomas said.
Fiebig was serving his sentence at River City for violation of drug paraphernalia, violation of protection order and failure to notify for change of address. According to court documents, he previously served time for aggravated robbery and robbery.
Fiebig's escape is part of a larger issue WCPO has covered concerning River City. Multiple inmates have escaped custody over the past year.
One high profile escape happened last summer when two inmates removed a window to flee. One took a woman hostage at knife-point in a Mason hotel before being shot and killed by police after a 12-hour standoff.
Earlier this month, a WCPO I-Team investigation prompted a state lawmaker to seek legislative hearings on the correctional center to question officials under oath about how the state-funded facility is being operated.
That lawmaker was Cecil Thomas who now wants to get River City and other community-based correctional centers more resources.
“If we get some additional dollars to address the most immediate issues, which is obviously staffing and then we still hear about walk-aways and escapes and some of the other things that were going that was brought out in the Channel 9 News report by all means then we got another problem here. We’ve got a problem with management," Thomas said.
He is working with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to allocate some of the state's budget to these correctional centers.
"We all agree there needs to be something done in the budget to address this whole issue. Once we’ve done that if the problem still persists then by all means there has to be something else done," he said.
One of the biggest concerns McVey and his staff talked with Thomas about is the number of people they have on their payroll.
“I asked the director what, if you had a magic want what would be your greatest wish for your organization here at [River City] and he said staffing, quality staffing," he said.
Thomas added a hearing is not off the table, and said this recent inmate escape is unfortunate.
RCCC adjusted their policy last year, so when an inmate is taken to the hospital a River City staff member will be with them during their hospital stay. McVey said they are currently reviewing the incident and will explain what happened when the investigation is completed.
This is a developing story and will be updated once more information becomes available.
Here's a look at the I-Team's investigation into the River City Correctional Center:
State lawmaker wants legislative hearings on correctional centers after I-Team investigation into River City
State lawmaker wants legislative hearings on correctional centers after I-Team investigation into River City
River City Correctional Center focusing more on security and higher-risk offenders
'They need to shut it down': Ex-inmate speaks out about River City Correctional Center's issues
River City employees disciplined for 'failing' to do security and inmate checks after July 9 escape
