Second inmate arrested after escaping from River City Correctional Center

By Web Staff

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    CINCINNATI, Ohio (WLWT) — A second inmate who escaped from the River City Corrections facility in Cincinnati has been arrested.

Scott McVey, executive director of River City Corrections gave an update Wednesday, saying 29-year-old Shawn Black was arrested in North College Hill Wednesday.

North College Hill police said officers were called to the 6800 block of Marvin Avenue for a burglary in progress.

Officers arrested Black and transported him to a local hospital for a medical condition. Once released, Black will be charged with burglary and escape.

Black escaped from the facility over the weekend through a broken window along with another inmate Thomas Cromwell, 27.

The chief of security at the facility said they found a window that was broken Wednesday and temporarily fixed with plywood and escaped through it.

Around 10:30 a.m., the staff at the facility were conducting a round and found Cromwell’s bed was made up to look like he was still in it.

That prompted an emergency count where it was confirmed two inmates were unaccounted for.

The chief of security, along with the Cincinnati Police Department, searched the surrounding areas trying to find the escaped inmates but were unsuccessful.

Around 4 p.m., the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department was notified to start an investigation.

Police also arrested Heather Goodman Wednesday. Goodman is accused of helping Cromwell and Black escape the RCCC.

According to an affidavit, Hamilton County investigators determined Goodman assisted in facilitating transportation for the escaped inmates. Police said Goodman also assisted in harboring Shawn Black and Thomas Cromwell the morning of the escape by renting a hotel room at the Budget Host Motel on Central Parkway.

Investigators questioned Goodman in the area of the Baymont Inn, where Cromwell was found but later found that she gave false information to detectives.

Goodman was arrested Wednesday in North College Hill with Black and subsequently arrested for two counts of aiding escape and one count of obstructing Justice, police said.

Both charges are felonies.

On Monday, around 3:30 p.m. Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office detectives and Mason Police Department officers saw who they believed was Cromwell enter the Baymont by Wyndham hotel with a woman.

Police and SWAT immediately were called and surrounded the hotel and began to get everybody out.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said in an update Tuesday that Cromwell met the woman in the parking lot and the two went inside the hotel shortly after.

Law enforcement officers attempted to make contact with Cromwell in the hotel room when they heard Cromwell make life-threatening statements against the woman.

That prompted law enforcement to call in the Warren County Tactical Response Unit who responded to the hotel for an apparent hostage, standoff situation.

The tactical team continue to make contact with Cromwell in the overnight hours Tuesday, when Fornshell said continued to make statements that made them feel like the woman’s life was in danger.

That’s when the tactical unit made the decision to force entry into the hotel room.

The tactical team confronted Cromwell in the hotel room and shot him once, killing him, Fornshell said.

Fornshell said an investigation revealed Cromwell was holding the woman at knifepoint at the time the tactical team entered the hotel room. The knife was discovered next to Cromwell’s body.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations is conducting an investigation into the tactical team’s use of lethal force.

The officers are not being identified at this point in the investigation, Fornshell said.

The woman in the hotel room is not being charged and will not be identified.

Once the investigation is completed, they will turn their findings over to the prosecutor’s office.

The Warren County Coroner confirmed that Cromwell’s body will be transferred to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy.

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