CHICAGO (AP) - Authorities in northern Illinois are searching for a Cook County Jail detainee who escaped over the weekend after appropriating the name of another detainee who was about to be released, officials said Tuesday.
Jahquez Scott, who was being held on a weapons charge while on parole for battery of an officer, allegedly promised to pay another detainee $1,000 to let him steal his identity to secure release, said Cook County sheriff’s spokeswoman Sophia Ansari. Scott traded a hooded sweatshirt with another detainee, to complete his disguise.
When corrections officers on Saturday called Quintin Henderson’s name for discharge, Scott, 21, stepped forward wearing a mask and signed release papers before exiting the jail, according to authorities.
Henderson, 28, later asked correctional staff if his name had been called, claiming he had fallen asleep, prosecutors said during a bail hearing.
Henderson, who was about to be released on his own recognizance in a drug case, is now being held in lieu of $25,000 bond on charges of aiding and abetting the escape of a felon.
The sheriff’s office is conducting an internal investigation of circumstances surrounding Scott’s escape, Ansari said.
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