Man whose protective mask helped in jail escape is caught

CHICAGO — Authorities have captured a man who escaped from a Chicago jail by wearing a coronavirus protective mask and pretending to be another detainee who was set for release, officials said Monday.

Jahquez Scott, 21, was captured by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI on Saturday inside the bedroom of a home of Chicago’s northwest side, the sheriff’s department said. He was scheduled to appear in court on Monday on a felony escape charge.

Scott, who was being held at the Cook County Jail on a weapons charge while on parole for a battery of an officer conviction, allegedly promised to pay another detainee, Quintin Henderson, so that he could pretend to be him at Henderson’s May 2 release. After exchanging sweatshirts with Henderson to complete the disguise, the sheriff’s department said Scott, who was wearing a mask that concealed tattoos on both sides of his face, stepped forward when Henderson’s name was called for discharge, signed release papers and walked out of jail.

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.

According to a news release, the sheriff’s department said that after Scott was arrested, he admitted to investigators that he had offered Henderson $500 to use his personal information to escape.

A spokesman for the sheriff’s department, Matt Walberg, said there is an ongoing investigation into the escape. He said that no jail staffers have been disciplined.

The Associated Press