Official: 1 fired from SC jail after inmate escape

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (AP) — One employee has been fired and several others disciplined after an inmate escaped from the Berkeley County jail.

Sheriff’s spokesman Dan Moon says one person was fired, one employee was demoted and two others were suspended.

Authorities say 39-year-old James Sanders of Ridgeville escaped from the jail Jan. 26. Since then, authorities have searched for him in several counties, but Sanders has not been found.

Officials say Sanders escaped by slipping out of a room at the jail and then hitching a ride with a man who did not know he was an inmate. Sanders is charged with criminal domestic violence and violating a restraining order.