On Thursday March 17, 2022 at approximately 1:00 p.m. an inmate was inadvertently released from the Calhoun County Correctional Facility. At the time the inmate Ryan George Ballinger, a 38-year-old from Homer, Mich., was being held at the Calhoun County Jail for Assault Less than Murder, Obstructing Police, and Obstructing Justice. Corrections deputies were preparing to take Ballinger to the hospital based on a PR bond release. Ballinger was inadvertently released into the bond lobby and left on foot into the City of Battle Creek. Corrections staff immediately realized he was missing, and an extensive internal and external search began. Reports of Ballinger seen in the Post Neighborhood caused a large police presence. That information was found to be incorrect. A resident spotted a male walking eastbound on A Drive North between 12 Mile and 14 Mile in Marshall Township at approximately 2:30 p.m. Calhoun County Deputies arrived in the area and took Ballinger into custody without incident.
