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| Inmates Help Rebuild Old Jail Cell |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/13/2006 |
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Illinois inmates are finding out what their conditions could have been like as they help put together a 19th-century jail cell on display at the Porter County police headquarters. The new owners of the former Court Restaurant donated the cramped, iron cell with two fold-out bunks and a door that can be difficult to open and close, Porter County Deputy Chief Dave Lain said. Sgt. Tim Emmons said it didn't fit in any longer at the restaurant, which was being remodeled. "(The owner) didn't want to just trash it, so he called us to make an inquiry," Emmons said. The cell started being displayed last week in the lobby. "I walked out there and, all of a sudden, there was a jail cell." Lain said the cell likely was used originally by police in central Illinois. It will become a permanent display and contain other historical artifacts that could include a 1921 Colt Thompson submachine gun stolen in a 1934 jailbreak by bank robber John Dillinger, Lain said. Dillinger stole the gun when he broke out of the Lake County Jail in Crown Point in 1934, but it was returned to Porter County after Dillinger's death. Lake County had been borrowing it at the time Dillinger escaped. The gun has a reported value of $1 million. Lain said he will keep it secure in the cell by locking the cage and running a cable through the trigger guard. Lain said he wants to lock the cell with two 19th-century era padlocks and place a mannequin inside wearing a 1950s-era police uniform. "I just could not see this thing going to the scrap heap," Lain said. |
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