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| Second escape bid foiled at jail |
| By Chicago Sun-Times |
| Published: 08/01/2005 |
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Weeks after inmate Randy Rencher escaped from Cook County Jail by securing an officer uniform, another prisoner enlisted similar bravado -- and perhaps some help from a sheriff's officer -- in an attempted jail break, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. Inmate Michael McIntosh somehow obtained a pair of jail-issued shorts, normally reserved for members of a special work detail, that at first glance could pass as street clothes, said Bill Cunningham, spokesman for the Cook County sheriff's office. Wearing the shorts and a white T-shirt, McIntosh made it off his maximum-security tier on Division 10 on July 24, walked down a hallway and was able to "mingle" with a group of Sunday visitors who were leaving the complex at 26th and California around 2 p.m. McIntosh, 30, made it into the lobby, where he and the others were asked for an ID, Cunningham said. That's common procedure. "He said he didn't have one" and made a run for it, getting outside and climbing partway up one of two fences --the first about 12 feet high, the second about 15 feet -- before officers yanked him down, Cunningham said. Now, aside from the aggravated battery charge that put him in jail in the first place, McIntosh also is facing an escape-related charge. But he's not the only one in trouble. A female officer in her 40s was suspended in recent days, suspected of aiding McIntosh, Cunningham said. "She is not cooperating in the investigation. She has refused to answer questions. So we're working with the public integrity unit of the state's attorney's office," he said, adding that criminal charges against the officer are possible. "She's been suspended" without pay, he said. There has been suspicion that someone on the inside assisted Rencher's escape June 27, but that hasn't been confirmed in the subsequent internal investigation, Cunningham said Sunday. But that's not to say some employees with the sheriff's office, which staffs the jail, didn't screw up, Cunningham said. Even people in uniform are supposed to be checked for ID before they leave. Within the next week or two, administrative charges are expected "against more than one staff member," Cunningham said. "It doesn't appear at this point that any actions of the staff members were criminal, but the investigation is still open." Since escaping, Rencher allegedly has robbed at least two banks. |
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