Crime & Safety
Jailbird Sings; Tells Paper How He Flew Coop
In a letter to the Chicago Sun-Times, Jose Banks describes how he and his cellmate climbed down 17 stories and escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago in December 2012.
A letter from one of the inmates who escaped a downtown Chicago jail and triggered a manhunt in Tinley Park explains how he and his fellow fugitive broke out their federal cell and rappelled 17 stories on bed sheets and dental floss.
Jose Banks, 38, called the December 2012 escape from the Metropolitan Correctional Center a “horrific, unimaginable nightmare” in a Sept. 16 letter he sent to the Chicago Sun-Times. The convicted bank robber said he and his cellmate, Kevin Conley, used the noise from a nearby construction site and the other inmates to mask them squeezing through hole in their cell and climbing down the outside prison wall with a makeshift rope.
READ: Check Out the Full Sun-Times Story for More Details
The two eventually made their way to Tinley Park and the home of Conley's mother, who turned the two away. Banks eventually was apprehended two days after his escape in Lincoln Park, and Conley was caught in Palos Hills two weeks later.
Coverage of the Manhunt for the Escaped Fugitives on Patch:
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
