OAG has yet to charge Maratita
The Office of the Attorney General’s Criminal Division has yet to charge Joey Maratita, an inmate who escaped from the custody of the Department of Corrections while being treated at the Commonwealth Health Center.
According to Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds, as of last Monday, no charges have been filed yet against Maratita, as they are still waiting for all reports regarding the incident. Once all reports have been turned in to his office and reviewed, that’s the time they can move forward with charging him for his escape.
The maximum sentence for an inmate who escapes from custody is imprisonment of about one year, he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Corrections has placed two of its officers on administrative leave while it investigates how Maratita escaped under their watch last week.
DOC Commissioner Anthony Torres said an Internal Affairs investigation has been launched into the escape of Maratita, who managed to elude his two DOC escorts while he was being treated at the CHC last Wednesday, Jan. 24. Fortunately, he was apprehended just a few hours later.
In addition, Torres reiterated that an after-action plan is forthcoming. That typically involves a review of the circumstances surrounding the event to identify areas for improvement and prevent similar incidents in the future.
Maratita is the same person who allegedly caused the lockdown and lockout at the Chacha Oceanview Middle School over a week ago.
It was learned that Maratita, who has a previous court-issued temporary restraining order against him, violated the terms of his restraining order by entering the school to talk to a teacher believed to be a previous partner.
Court documents, which recount the COVMS incident, state that police officers responded last Jan. 17 at around 11:31am to a disturbing the peace, domestic violence, assault and battery, and contempt of court report at the school.
Police officer Maridel Camacho arrived on campus at around 11:34am, and spoke with COVMS principal Martha Kintol who gave details about the car Maratita was allegedly driving and informed her that the school had been placed on lockdown due to the incident. Kintol then escorted Camacho to the school’s main office to speak with the person who had called police—a COVMS faculty member who witnessed the incident.
The caller told police that Maratita had been with one of the teachers in a classroom, but she (the caller) was able to get the victim to safety and away from Maratita. She added that Maratita then jumped a fence and left the campus.
In an interview with the alleged victim, police learned that she was on her way to her classroom when she saw Maratita walking in the hallway toward her. When Maratita was a few feet away, the victim said the defendant told her they needed to talk and they made their way to her classroom.
In her classroom, she stated she and Maratita got into a verbal altercation before another teacher stepped in and took her to safety.
The victim told police that she had sought police assistance against Maratita back on Jan. 13, after he violated a TRO she had filed against him. In that incident, Maratita entered the COVMS campus and disturbed the victim’s peace.
Chester Hinds
