NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — Now that the four escaped teens are back at the Juvenile Detention Center, Metro Police is looking at the cost in regular, overtime and manpower it took to find them.
The four teens escaped from the detention facility on November 30. Decorrius Wright, 16, Morris Marsh, 17, Brandon Caruthers, 17, and Calvin Howse, 15 were out of their cells cleaning when staff left them alone to break up a fight in another part of the facility.
Wright is suspected of shooting the gun that killed musician Kyle Yorlets in February. Marsh is accused of murdering Charlie Easley, 19, at the Point Breeze Apartments on Lemont Drive in April.
Caruthers and Howse face armed robbery and gun possession charges.
Metro said more than 170 Metro officers dedicated time for the search. Police spokesperson, Don Aaron said these officers made finding the teens their number one priority while temporarily pushing some other cases off to the side.
"When we look at all hours worked, and all the dollars involved for the personnel alone the equation came out to nearly a quarter million dollars," said Aaron.
The exact dollar amount is $241,904.93, the breakdown according to police:
- Total shift time (regular duty) hours: 2,694.75
- Total overtime hours: 2,204.05
- The estimated regular shift pay, excluding fringe calculations, is $81,355.88. With fringe (health insurance, social security, etc.) the total is $112,982.65
- The estimated overtime pay, excluding fringe calculations, is $107,444.19. With fringe, the total is $128,922.28
Aaron says a lot of hours were spent looking at surveillance, gathering intelligence information and trying to figure out how the escaped occurred in the first place. Aaron said the cost figure was significant to many, but it was necessary to find the four dangerous teens.
Aaron says gross negligence and error on the part of the employees of the Juvenile Detention Center allowed the teens to escape and he believes they should cover the cost.
"We’ve provided our cost calculations to the metro legal department and I suspect there’s going to be some effort to recoup the cost from the company that runs the juvenile detention center," Aaron said.
In the end, Aaron said they had to do whatever it took to get the escapees back in custody.
