Officials ID more crimes by prisoners released early

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Corrections officials say at least 27 prisoners mistakenly released early due to a software coding error committed crimes when they should have still been in prison.

During a conference call with reporters Friday, Corrections Secretary Dan Pacholke said that of that number, eight committed felonies and 19 committed misdemeanors.

Those numbers reflect a review of prisoners released early between December 2011 and December 2015.

The most serious of the felonies, Pacholke said, was an inmate who was released early in 2012 and shot at police following a burglary in Yakima. Officers weren't injured and Ruiz is currently in custody on those charges.

Officials have said that as many as 3,200 offenders have being wrongly released early since 2002.

So far, they've apprehended 77 people who need to serve additional time, but an additional 103 former prisoners need to be returned to custody.