ST. LOUIS police accidentally release man charged in three deaths after he switches IDs

Monday, June 18th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Police searched Monday for a man charged in three traffic deaths who was mistakenly released after he switched his ID bracelet with a nephew who was also in custody.

Anthony Rogers, 26, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident. Police said he was driving a stolen car when he ran a stop sign and slammed into a car Saturday night, killing the three women inside.

Police said Rogers escaped Sunday afternoon by changing clothes and switching his identification bracelet with his nephew, who happened to be in custody at police headquarters in an unrelated incident.

When authorities decided not to seek charges against the nephew, they released Rogers instead.

``It's a mistake,'' Police Chief Joe Mokwa said, promising a review of police department procedures. ``We'll go back and change the procedures, make sure this never happens again. But right now, our priority is getting Mr. Rogers back into custody.''

Police in St. Louis usually check the identification wristbands of prisoners and ask them a few questions before releasing them. They don't match faces with mug shots, Mokwa said.

Rogers apparently bluffed his way out because he could answer basic questions about his nephew, police said.

The women who died in the accident, all workers at the federal records center in Overland, were identified as Cora Lee Riley, 48; Rosie Lee Chandler, 60; and Ann Delores Jones, 59.