David Padilla was fired in 2006 following charges that he ignored an alarm during Ralph ‘Bucky’ Phillips escape from the Erie County Jail.
He was a guard working in the jail’s control room the night of the escape.
An arbitrator has now ruled that county officials failed to prove that the officer ignored an alarm and failed to prove that an alarm even sounded as Phillips bored through a kitchen ceiling and made his way to the roof.
The arbitrator has ordered Padilla’s reinstatement.
County officials were highly critical of the decision and are considering options for an appeal.
Phillips was on the run for five months in a very highly publicized manhunt.
Phillips shot and wounded state Trooper Sean Brown in Chemung County in June 2006.
Two months later, in Chautauqua County, he shot Trooper Donald Baker Jr. and killed Trooper Joseph Longobardo.
Phillips is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
