Ohio jail guard punished after inmate posed as nurse

CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio -- An Ohio corrections officer has been punished for not locking a door, allowing an inmate to dress up as a nurse and wander through the jail posing as a medical professional.

In spring, authorities said the incident involved Cuyahoga County inmate Sara Kotecki. Officials at the time said they considered that an attempted escape.

Now, Corrections Officer William Winkel was suspended five days.

His discipline letter showed he escorted an inmate to the “sixth-floor dispensary” and “failed to secure the door.”

The inmate then got into a medical administrator’s office, grabbing an ID badge, a laptop, a MetroHealth binder, and something to drink.

The letter said the inmate later was confronted by other guards on the 10th floor.

Investigators said Kotecki did not get out of the jail at that time, but she was indicted on an escape charge for the incident.

Current court records showed she was at large -- wanted by authorities. She had been sent to a drug treatment program in connection with another case, but she has not come back to court.