An investigation is now underway to determine how a man was left trapped in a visiting room inside Cook County Jail for over 30 hours. The male had reportedly visited the prison to see his son who is currently awaiting trial for a drug case.
An investigation is now underway to determine how a man was left trapped in a visiting room inside Cook County Jail for over 30 hours. The male had reportedly visited the prison to see his son who is currently awaiting trial for a drug case.
On Saturday evening, the father walked into the Chicago facility and was directed to go down the hallway and turn to the right. He did as he was told and found a door that was propped open.
He stepped inside and the door shut behind him, locking him in. The man thought it was a normal visiting room, but the area is actually reserved for visitors of super-maximum security prisoners.
The jail's executive director Cara Smith explained “There’s no reason to check on that room because it’s not used on the weekends… Brilliantly, he broke the sprinkler head off which alerted the fire department so they were able to identify where it was coming from and they went in and found him.”
"Approximately 30 hours, very very long time by any measure." [Via WBBM]
"Smith says the man pounded on the door but in a maximum security division, the walls and the doors are thick." [Via WBBM]
The door had reportedly been left open by contractors working at the jail who ironically, were installing security cameras.
