LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — While they share the same last name, these two men have completely different appearances. Yet, one was mistakenly released from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.
Billy Partington and Drake Partington are half brothers, both currently inmates at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. Despite a nine-year age gap and different heights, hair, and eye color, Billy Partington was able to escape the Luzerne County Correctional Facility by posing as his half-brother.
Court documents show Friday, January 26th, Billy Partington was mistakenly brought down to the booking area of the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, as his half-brother, Drake Partington, was to be released after posting bail. The paperwork states that Billy Partington told the guard he lost his identification, and those who worked at the jail compared the photo of Drake Partington to Billy and failed to notice the difference. Instead, Billy Partington was allowed to sign a release form in his half-brother's name, dress in his clothes, and walk out the door on bail.
Billy was currently serving a sentence at the facility for drug charges. According to court paperwork, Drake was on a pre-trial detention involving a stabbing in Hanover Township back on January 23rd.
According to the criminal complaint, Drake Partington was arrested after an incident at this ex-girlfriend's home in Hanover Township. Paperwork shows that Drake Partington began punching a male who showed up at the residence. It then alleges Drake Partington pulled a knife on the man and cut his left arm.
Now, this isn't the first time an inmate has escaped from the County Jail on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre. Many remember Hugo Selenski's notorious escape back in 2003.
An incident like this obviously brings to the forefront the need to take a really close look at the safety in our prison, says Luzerne County Council Chair John Lombardo.
When asked about the recent investment in security at the jail, Lombardo said, "Just to be clear, it isn't very uncommon for prisoners to escape. It does happen elsewhere; it happens in maximum security prisons. Not to say that's an excuse in any way, shape, or form for what occurred. But it's not something that's unheard of."
Over the past two years, the county has poured more than $1.5 million into the building to fix up areas like fire security, the roof, and the elevators, all of which were funded by the American Rescue Plan.
"We have been trying to be really proactive about funding for our prison and looking into new options for building a new prison. But unfortunately, for the time being, we have to use the tools that we have and make it as safe as possible," said Lombardo.
Lombardo has many questions about how exactly it happened. He is willing to work with the Luzerne County Department of Corrections to prevent it from happening again.
"We do have some COVID-19 relief dollars left, so maybe we can apply those in a way that might assist the prison and the corrections office in fixing the problem. But until we get a plan in place, we're just going to sit tight and wait and see," added Lombardo.
Billy Partington is currently behind bars after being into custody by Wilkes-Barre police earlier this week. He is facing a new felony charge of escape.
There is currently an investigation underway into this incident in Luzerne County.