A man charged with murder, who was accidentally released last week from a Prince William County jail, is back in police custody, according to law enforcement officials.
Christopher T. Broady, 19, was apprehended Thursday in a home on the 2900 block of Douglas Street in Fairfax County, near Alexandria, according to Manassas police spokesman Sgt. Tim Neumann.
Broady was being held at the county’s adult detention center on homicide and firearm charges and was accidentally released Friday after a flub between prosecutors and jailers.
Police were in the strange position of rounding up a suspect who, by no apparent fault of his own, was on the lamb. Neumann would not comment as to whether Broady knew he had been accidentally released.
“He didn’t escape, he was released, he will not face additional charges” beyond the original ones, said Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert.
Jail officials mistakenly released Broady after charges were dropped against him in Circuit Court while charges were still pending in General District Court.
Ebert, who takes blame for the error, said Broady should not have been indicted before a district court preliminary hearing took place, which led to confusion in the jail.
Prince William County Adult Detention Center Superintendent Charles Land said he doesn’t foresee any disciplinary action against jail staff.
“Had I been that officer that released him, I would have done exactly the same thing,” Land said.
Broady is charged with shooting 22-year-old Bernard Matthews to death in February, said Neumann.
