Inmate mistakenly released from jail by Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is trying to locate an inmate who assumed the identity of a different person in jail and was mistakenly released Thursday morning.

Anthony Pena was released at 2:20 a.m. and it took seven hours for MCSO to realize the mistake, the agency said in a press release.

Pena, who was booked by Phoenix police on a warrant for failure to appear and drug charges, took the identification of another inmate before being released, according to MCSO.

Agency detectives are investigating the reason for Pena’s mistaken release.

MCSO’s Professional Standards Bureau will conduct the internal investigation for any possible negligence or policy violations.

No other information was immediately available.

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