Inmate escapes by posing as fellow detainee, wearing a face mask

An inmate at a Chicago jail escaped over the weekend by putting on a face mask and posing as a fellow detainee who was about to be released, officials said.

Jahquez Scott — who had been locked up on a weapons charge while on parole for battery of an officer — allegedly promised Quintin Henderson $1,000 to swap places with him, Cook County sheriff’s spokeswoman Sophia Ansari said Tuesday.

To complete his disguise, Scott, 21, put on a face mask and traded hooded sweatshirts with Henderson, who was set for release without bail in a drug case, officials said.

When guards called Henderson’s name Saturday for discharge, Scott stepped forward in the get-up and signed the release papers — making his escape from the Cook County Jail.

Later, Henderson, 28, feigned ignorance, asking correctional staff if his name had been called and claiming to have been sleeping, prosecutors said during a bail hearing.

Henderson is now being held in lieu of $25,000 bond on charges of aiding and abetting the escape of a felon.

Scott was still at large Wednesday.

The sheriff’s office is conducting an internal investigation into the incident, Ansari said.

The Cook County Sheriff’s office was ordered by a federal judge to provide face masks for all inmates who are quarantined amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to CBS Chicago.

via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/06/inmate-escapes-by-posing-as-fellow-detainee-and-wearing-a-face-mask/

Photo Credit: Cook County Sheriff’s Office