Detention Officer Alfred Casas Arrested for Helping with Jailbreak

A Bexar County Jail detention officer was arrested Thursday afternoon after an investigation revealed he supplied inmates with a hacksaw for an attempted jailbreak late last week, officials said.

Alfred Casas, 30, was arrested on the job without incident and is charged with providing implements for escape — deadly weapon, which is a second-degree felony, officials said. The officer has been with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office for three years, said Roger Dovalina, deputy chief of the detention division. Casas' bail was set at $15,000.

Dovalina said he is trying to restore confidence in his officers because their morale is low after hearing about the incident. He said he told them “to keep their heads up” and that “one bad apple” is not a reflection of every officer in the division.

A fifth inmate also has been charged in the escape plot. All five unidentified inmates were facing long sentences and high bail amounts. They are being held in separate high-security cells, Dovalina said.

Since sheriff's deputies and the district attorney's office still are investigating the incident, he said, many details couldn't be released. It wasn't disclosed if investigators are looking for any other suspects or exactly how Casas may have benefited from helping the inmates.

Dovalina said the men had been planning the escape since early September and that they were able to saw off a metal bracket on a window in an outside recreation area. If the men had been able to proceed with the plan, the deputy chief said, the only extra line of security keeping them from freedom was a metal screen covering the window.

The plan was thwarted Saturday when officials found two 30-foot ropes, dyed prisoner clothing and a hacksaw blade. The hand-braided ropes were made from strips of bedsheets and blankets. A few cells down, authorities found dyed clothing and a 5-inch hacksaw blade. Officials said the inmates used teabags to dye their jail-issued orange jumpsuits dark brown. Authorities also found a broken window and a brick that had been chipped away.

Up until Saturday's incident, the jail did not have a “set procedure to check officers” for foul play, Dovalina said. Now, he said, the jail will implement “daily inspections targeting the entire facility.”

“We want the public to know we perform our jobs in a professional manner,” Dovalina said. “We have a case here that doesn't happen very often. We will continue the investigation and take all steps to ensure safety and security.”