Prisoner recaptured after mistakenly released in Wake County
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The Wake County Sheriff's Office says a prisoner being held on a statutory rape charges was mistakenly released from the detention center Tuesday night.
Brandon Marquis Cozart, 24, was later arrested Wednesday afternoon in Sampson County.
Sheriff Donnie Harrison called the release an error on the part of detention officers. He explained Cozart was being held on a $2.5 million bond. Another man with the name Brandon Maurice Smith was set to be released on a $2,000 bond.
A detention officer walked in a jail cell with papers for the second man's release and called the name "Brandon." Cozart stood up and then signed his own name on the paperwork.
Cozart walked out and was gone by the time officers noticed the mix-up and that Brandon Smith was still in his cell.
Sheriff Harrison called it human error and said there will be disciplinary action for the officers involved.
"This was a jail error. We take full responsibility for it," said Harrison. "This is very rare. Their names are so similar but their pictures don't even look anything close. We have a bar code and tracker. Bottom line is they just didn't follow procedure."
Cozart faces five felony counts of statutory rape. Raleigh police say in May and September of this year he had sex with two different girls under the age of 15.
Cozart's bond was increased to $6 million Wednesday morning when he didn't show for a court appearance.
Harrison said his office got a tip that Cozart was in Sampson County attending the funeral of one of his relatives. Raleigh police and the Sampson County Sheriff's Office assisted in the arrest.
