Inmate Charged After Handgun Found At Cook County Jail Causing Lockdown
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Cook County Sheriff's office announced Thursday that a prisioner has been charged for leaving a loaded handgun in a jail garbage can prompting a lockdown on Tuesday.
A loaded 32 caliber Kel-Tec handgun was found Tuesday morning by staff in the trash located in the jail's receiving area, where new prisoners are brought in by outside law enforcement agencies.
The finding prompted a jail lockdown, which had been lifted Thursday.
RELATED: Cook County Jail Locked Down After Gun Found In Trash
The Cook County Sheriff's office said investigators learned that at approximately 9:20 a.m. on Aug. 13, 25-year-old Quentin Jones had the gun in his possession and discarded it in a garbage can in the jail's receiving area.
Jones can be seen on security video, released by the jail, disposing of something in a garbage can as he and other prisoners are booked at the jail on Sunday.
Cara Smith, chief policy officer for the sheriff, said it's a loaded handgun he's trying to get rid of before he has to pass through a metal detector.
And Smith said it was Chicago Police who arrested Jones, and so it was Chicago Police who should've found the gun on him.
"We have alerted Chicago about this matter and obviously they're taking it very seriously and will do an investigation on their side.
"Fortunately, no one was hurt prior to him coming into our custody or once in our custody," she said.
Jones was initially booked on domestic battery and criminal damage to property. Now he is facing Class X felony charges of possessing a gun in a penal institution.
He is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing on Thursday for the new charge.
