Three rearrested hours after mass inmate release from Ohio jail

By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Three men released from an Akron, Ohio-area jail over the weekend after budget cuts and staffing shortages closed two units were rearrested within hours for petty crimes, officials said on Wednesday. Michael Coon, Robert Edwards and Rodney Yates II were part of a group of 72 inmates released from the Summit County jail on Sunday, a Summit County sheriff department records representative confirmed. “I’m not surprised,” sheriff's office spokesman Bill Holland said of the three arrests. "Some of them said they did not want to leave. They said jail is better than the place they were going to.” Holland noted that 60 percent of inmates committed new crimes within a year of their release. Coon, 33, was arrested on a misdemeanor drug abuse charge, and is already out on a suspended sentence, court records said. Edwards, 57, must appear in court on Friday on a petty theft citation charging that he did not pay for $63 worth of sushi and Thai food, a court official said. Yates, 32, was sent back to the Summit County jail for stealing clothing worth $230 from an Akron-area Macy’s about six hours after his release, according to police and court records. (Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Mary Wisniewski, Eric Walsh and Peter Cooney)