Cook County Inmate Escapes From Markham Courthouse
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Authorities were searching for a 31-year-old woman who escaped custody at the Markham courthouse on Tuesday.
Vivian McGee slipped out of her handcuffs around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and left the courthouse, apparently still wearing her Cook County Jail-issued blue uniform, said Cara Smith, chief policy officer for the Cook County Sheriff's Office.
The Markham courthouse was on lockdown for about 45 minutes after McGee escaped to search the building, and sheriff's deputies determined she was not there.
"She's had 29 arrests. She's 31 years old. She's had 29 arrests, and they are all for minor offenses; to include retail theft, many traffic offenses, DUI," Smith said. "She had been arrested Friday in Harvey on a retail theft case from a Walgreens, and also was determined to have two active warrants; one a DUI from Markham, and the other another retail theft from South Holland."
Smith said she doubts McGee had help from inside the corrections system when she escaped, but said somebody probably helped her on the outside.
The sheriff's office will review its own system to correct whatever failure allowed an inmate to escape.
"These are very unfortunate instances. They occur very infrequently, thank goodness," Smith said. "We'll do our best to shore up any policies that were not followed, to the extent they contributed to this occurring."