1.22.2008

This ain't no Shawshank

Inmate Inhak Cho was caught trying to escape an Illinois jail using self-made metal chisels.

Asians Behaving Badly... prison break edition! In Illinois, McHenry County jail authorities caught an inmate, 46-year-old Inhak Cho, trying to chip his way through the 18-inch concrete wall in his cell with a pair of self-made metal chisels.

Cops: Algonguin man tried to chisel way out of McHenry County jail.

Not quite Andy Dufresne, Cho had been working on his little escape plan for one or two weeks, and had managed to make a hole about an inch deep and 18 inches wide, while concealing his work with toothpaste.

Authorities discovered the hole thanks to a tip from a confidential informant.

McHenry County jail authorities foiled a "Shawshank Redemption"-style escape attempt Tuesday by an inmate trying to chip his way through an 18-inch concrete block with a pair of long metal chisels he had fashioned.

Except instead of hiding his efforts behind a poster of a modern-day Rita Hayworth or Raquel Welch, authorities said Inhak Cho was covering up his handiwork with toothpaste.

The 46-year-old Algonquin man's escape bid had not gotten far by the time authorities discovered it Tuesday afternoon, thanks to a tip by a confidential informant, McHenry County Undersheriff Gene Lowery said Wednesday morning.

Cho has been serving a six-year sentence for aggravated domestic battery and firearms offenses, and is also awaiting trial on kidnapping charges, which could get him thirty years.

This stunt just earned him a new set of felony charges, including possession of a weapon in a penal institution and criminal damage of state supported property. That's another fifteen years!

More than enough time to devise a new escape plan.

angry archive