Feb 10, 2006 11:02 pm US/Central
Authorities Look For Answers In Jail Escape
Derrick Blakley contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Friday was the second time an inmate has escaped from the Cook County Jail in eight months.
As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, investigators believe the suspect, Warren Mathis, 35, of Forest Park, escaped in a laundry truck.
And on Friday night, the investigation was focusing on why correctional officers manning the gate at the jail did not check the open-backed box-truck in which the Mathis allegedly made his escape, as well as why other guards on the loading dock where he was working did not see him slip away.
"Something like this happened because an employee or group of employees did not to do their job properly," said Cook County sheriff's office spokesman Bill Cunningham.
The jail break took place between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in Division 11 of the jail, at 31st Street and California Avenue, the maximum security area of the jail.
He made his break while on a work detail cleaning the rear loading dock. He was awaiting trial on three counts of armed robbery in the holdup of a North Riverside ice cream store last August, and was already on parole from a robbery in New Mexico.
This was the second incident involving a breach of security at the jail in the last month.
A number of employees are also suspected of missing a gun smuggled into the same unit last month. Three inmates were shot in an alleged plot to sue the county for negligence.
And last year, bank robber Randy Rencher, also on a work detail, changed into an officer's clothes and simply walked out. Rencher was recaptured in Ohio.
In each case, officials at the John Howard Association, a respected prison watchdog group, asks the same questions.
John Howard Association executive director Malcolm Young said, "Did they not have enough guards to do the job, assigned, or are they there and not paying attention?"
Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan has been fighting a contentious budget battle with County Board President John H. Stroger Jr. (D-4th). The sheriff, who will be retiring after his term ends later this year, is under a federal court order to increase staffing.
Cunningham said the blame in this case was solely on an employee or group of employees.
Mathis is a 6'1" white male weighing 200 lbs. He has thinning brown hair and hazel eyes. He may have been wearing a tan, jail uniform when he escaped.
A Chicago police bulletin said she should be considered armed and dangerous.
After the breakout, the prison was put on lockdown as visitors who arrived to see others found out.
After the escape, canine teams in a SWAT-like outfit scoured the jail premises to no avail. Authorities later expanded the search, visiting the addresses of Mathis' friends and relatives.
(© 2006 CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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