Report: Felon ‘walked out’ of King County Jail

Security at the King County Jail is such that last month, an inmate escaped by simply walking out, according to KIRO 7’s Amy Clancy.

Clancy reported on KIRO 7 that felon Joseph Matthew Tremato, 48, was allegedly on the run for three weeks until being re-arrested on Sept. 12.

“He was not meant to be released, he was not supposed to be released, but he hid himself among a group of people who were supposed to be released, and he just walked out,” Clancy told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

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Tremato had been charged with multiple charges of burglary and possession of meth. He allegedly had broken into apartments in Capitol Hill and near Pike Place Market to steal tools, a bicycle, cash, and — on one occasion — used an apartment’s washer to do his laundry.

“His court records show a history of preying on people when he needed money, when he needed a place to stay, and when he needed to do his laundry,” Clancy said.

Nearly every moment of Tremato’s alleged escape is documented on King County Jail security cameras, according to court records that Clancy read.

“This is all stuff that is on camera, and was on camera while it was happening,” Clancy said.

Surveillance video shows Tremato following an inmate who had an appointment out of their housing area, and then blending in with other inmates who were about to be released. He follows the other inmates to the release holding area while hiding his face from the cameras, Clancy said. Eventually, as the other inmates change into their non-jail clothing, he gets his hands on street clothes and puts them on.

“According to the surveillance video, he was seen running up Fifth Avenue on Aug. 22, and he was not captured for three weeks,” Clancy said.

Tremato has a long history of criminal convictions such as theft, burglary, vehicular assault, and assault. Interestingly, one of these past convictions was escape — which Clancy believes should have had jail employees on alert before he ever even attempted anything.

“This guy seems to me the kind of guy that you would want to red-flag as a possible escape risk,” Clancy said.

She cannot believe that with the surveillance video capturing a play-by-play of Tremato’s escape, she is not able to get any answers about the escape from King County Jail officials, besides confirmation that it happened.

Clancy said that her request for an on-camera interview with King County Jail Director William Hayes was denied, but that she was granted a phone call with him. Hayes told Clancy that her questions, such as, “How many systems of checks and balances here might have failed?” and “What was [Tremato] doing during those three weeks?” are all still part of the jail’s ongoing investigation.

Despite the lack of clear answers, Clancy said that she is not going to stop delving into a case that is of critical concern to public safety in Seattle.

“We are journalists, and we are going to keep asking the questions, whether somebody is willing to answer them or not, because that is our responsibility,” Clancy said. She continued, “We’re still going to do the story. We’re still going to talk about what happened.”

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