Cell flaw a factor in fight
By Allen Powell II
Times-Picayune
NEW ORLEANS — A Mississippi man is the latest Jefferson Parish Correctional Center inmate to use a flaw in the jail’s locking mechanisms to escape his cell and commit an act of violence, according to an arrest report.
Leroy Banks, 26, of Greenville, was booked with simple/aggravated escape and simple battery after he allegedly escaped his jail cell in order to fight another inmate on June 25. Banks is being held at the correctional center without bail because he is wanted in Texas.
According to an arrest report, Banks was being held in the jail’s lockdown area, where inmates with behavior problems and those arrested for serious crimes are housed. Inmates in that section are allowed out of their cells only one hour per day to shower and have some recreation, the report said.
Another inmate was released from his cell about 5:55 p.m. to take a shower when Banks began to violently pull back and forth on the cell door. The door opened and Banks rushed toward the other inmate in a common area and began to strike him on the upper body.
Guards subdued Banks, who sustained a swollen eye and bruised cheek. The other inmate was not injured, the report said.
Banks was able to escape because several cells in the jail, particularly those in the older section of the facility, can be opened manually by inmates if they pull on them for an extended period of time. Inmates and guards call it “racking back” the cells.
On March 21, five men were arrested after they “racked back” their cells in order to attack correctional officer Michael Tisdale. Tisdale sustained a broken nose and several cuts and bruises. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand has said that his office is working with parish officials to repair the problem.
The Sheriff’s Office did not comment Thursday.
Copyright 2008 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company