“It’s going to be an easy day,” Deputy Eli Karr told Deputy Cain Martin, the new recruit he was training. “A good day to read up on policy.”
Only moments later they heard a call from Deputy Gregory Pugh go out over the radio that an inmate was escaping from an outdoor recreation area of the jail, scaling a seemingly impossible 13-foot fence and slithering through rolls of razor wire. Deputy Pugh tried to grab the inmate’s legs but was unable to reach him before he cleared the fence.
It was Deputy Martin’s second day on the job.
They had no idea what the inmate had been charged with, but they knew they had to return him to custody no matter what. Only later did they find out that the inmate, Cody Jondreau, was charged with killing his own infant son.
The chase took Deputies Martin, Karr, and Pugh through a steep, water-filled ditch. Thinking it was shallower, Karr got bogged down in the mud and deep water. As he was climbing out just steps behind the escaping inmate, Karr had a chance to deploy his Taser, but it malfunctioned. With the inmate getting further away, Deputy Martin helped Deputy Karr up the bank. “I was torn for a second,” Deputy Martin said. “I knew I was supposed to stay with my field training officer and follow his instructions… but I also knew I had to pursue the escaped inmate. I asked if I could leave him and he said yes, just go.”
“He took off like a K-9,” Deputy Karr said of his new recruit.
Deputy Martin pursued the inmate over a 6 foot fence and around a corner, ordering him to stop, telling him he was about to be Tasered. When the inmate refused to stop, Deputy Martin deployed his Taser. Deputy Karr and Deputy Pugh arrived and the inmate was secured in handcuffs.
“Get on the radio and tell them where we are,” Deputy Karr told his recruit. He’d just recaptured an escaped inmate… but he was still a raw recruit. “Sir, I don’t know where we are!” A moment later Lieutenant Chrissy Betsinger arrived to further secure the inmate and call out their exact position.
“Do you know what we just did?” Deputy Karr asked his recruit. Deputy Martin smiled and started to laugh. For his action in recapturing the escaped inmate, Deputy Martin was one of four deputies (along with Deputies Karr and Pugh, and Lieutenant Betsinger) who were named Detention Deputy of the Year. Quite a feat for his second day on the job.
Despite this promising beginning, a career in law enforcement was once the furthest thing from Deputy Martin’s mind. “We were very poor,” he said of his home life growing up. “My parents did what they could to give me and my sister a good life. They made a bad situation better, and I tell them all the time how much I appreciate what they did for me. I could have easily gone down the wrong path, like a lot of people I knew.”
Another big influence in his life was Corporal Jeff Cuttitta of the PCSO Training Division. “I’ve known Jeff and his family for 11 years,” Deputy Martin said. “I used to coach his sons in wrestling when I was in high school.” Later, they met up again when Deputy Martin began studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. They got to know each other a lot better, and Corporal Cuttitta urged him to apply to PCSO. “I knew he was a smart kid who could make something of himself.”
At this point, though, Deputy Martin wasn’t interested. “I was teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, living a carefree life – why would I want to change that?”
But the idea gradually took hold. He thought about applying for patrol, but Corporal Cuttitta encouraged him to start at the jail. He could always transition to the road later on, and being in the jail would teach him how to talk to people, show him he could handle himself. Once he made this decision, he was shocked to discover a connection he never knew he had. “My wife might wind up being your Lieutenant,” Corporal Cuttitta told him.
“I’ve known you for eleven years and you never thought to mention that your wife is a Lieutenant in the jail?” Deputy Martin asked, shocked. Lieutenant Christina Cuttitta sat down with him and told him all about what working at the jail is like.
Deputy Martin was sponsored through the academy, where he excelled. Corporal Cuttitta was in the Honor Guard at Deputy Martin's graduation. “I’m very proud. He’s a great success story.”
The training he got in both the academy and in the jail contributed to Deputy Martin’s success on the night of the escape. “The training that we receive teaches you not to be complacent,” said Deputy Pugh. “One minute you have no issues at all, and the next it will erupt into a chaotic situation.”
Deputy Karr has a new appreciation for the yearly Physical Assessment Test (PAT). “I can see how it plays a huge role in our careers, from the low crawl under the sallyport, a run of almost a mile, jumping over a 6 foot fence… I’m now ready for a swimming portion to be added to our yearly PAT.”
Now, the story of the escape and swift recapture is becoming legendary in the jail… and like all legends, it is getting exaggerated. “People come up to me and ask if I actually climbed the razor wire myself, or swam through deep water.”
And what are Deputy Martin’s plans for the future after such a promising start? He says he has no intention of leaving the jail for the road after all. “I enjoy my job, and don’t plan on leaving,” he said. “I have great supervisors, and great people to work with. I’m really happy where I’m at.”
His co-workers seem happy to have him there too. “When I first met him, he seemed to be a young chip-on-the-shoulder type of guy, talking about being a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu,” Deputy Karr said. “I was curious how he’d handle a stressful situation. Now, I’m glad we had that cocky young kid in our corner!”
