Overcrowding may be cause of jail break
JACKSON, Tenn. — Sirens echoed through streets of downtown Jackson late Friday night and into Saturday morning after Sheriff John Mehr confirmed two teen inmates overpowered two female jailers at the annex and escaped. Officials said one of the inmates was captured on the roof. The other inmate was arrested after he was found hiding in a courtroom closet. “It’s really shocking to me,” resident Shondra Palmer said. “I’m really concerned about it because I have kids and I want them to be safe in the community.” Mehr said the inmates were never supposed to be in the annex, but he said they had no other option because of the overcrowding problem in the criminal justice complex. “We’re all aware something like this could happen,” Madison County Commissioner William Ragon said. “This is just going to bring it all to the forefront. We will have to do something now, but we are very reluctant to spend needless taxpayers’ money.” Ragon said there is no actual plan in place as of now. He said the idea is either to build more cells or turn the efforts into changing our community. Mehr said they are currently reviewing the security tapes to figure out what happened during the jail break. He said the two jailers were sent to the hospital to be treated for injuries and that they were released Saturday morning.
