Escaped Inmate Jahquez Scott Captured; Swapped Identities With Fellow Detainee To Escape Cook County Jail
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Jahquez Scott, who used another inmate's personal information to escape from Cook County Jail on May 2, has been captured and is back in custody, being held without bond.
Cook County Sheriff's spokesman Matt Walberg said Scott was arrested shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday, after he was found in the bedroom of a home in the 3600 block of West Augusta Boulevard in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
Walberg said Scott told investigators he offered to pay fellow inmate Quentin Henderson $500 to use his personal information to escape. Henderson told investigators he was promised $1,000.
Henderson, 28, was scheduled to be released from custody on an personal recognizance bond for a drug charge, while Scott was being held on a $50,000 deposit bond for unlawful use of a weapon, and would have had to go on electronic monitoring if he had been able to post bail.
Scott donned a medical mask and posed as Henderson, using his name and personal information to leave the jail, according to the sheriff's office. The Cook County Sheriff's office was ordered by a federal judge to provide face masks for all inmates who are quarantined for any reason amid the coronavirus pandemic.
After Scott left the jail, staff learned that something was not right when the real Henderson came to provide information for his discharge and his paperwork was missing, the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office has launched an internal investigation.
Henderson has been charged with aiding escape, and is now being held without bail for violating the terms of his original bond.
Scott was charged with felony escape, and was ordered held without bail at a bond hearing Monday afternoon. He is due back in court on May 22.
The FBI had been offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to Scott's arrest and conviction, but it was not immediately clear if his capture was based on a tip.