For years now, inmates at a federal facility in Atlanta have been covertly breaking out to procure alcohol and other household staples before—get this!—breaking back in. Court documents obtained and published by CNN on Thursday reveal that the Atlanta Police Department first started an investigation into "temporarily escaping" inmates back in 2013, alleging the part-time escapees exited through holes in a fence.
A parked car was noticed near the fence line at the medium-security U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, CNNreported. The occupants were rocking ski masks and jumpsuits and promptly bolted back onto prison grounds once officers started to approach the vehicle. During a search of the abandoned vehicle, cops found the following:
- bottled alcohol
- 24 phones
- a couple of loaded handguns
After cops found "man-sized holes" in the fence late last year, surveillance cameras were installed. Just one month later, those cameras started capturing inmates as they escaped and brought back "large bags of contraband." Last week, an inmate named Justin B. Stinson was arrested by FBI agents during the sneaking-back-in process.
Stinson, CNNsaid, had the following items on his person at the time of the arrest:
- one phone
- one pair of scissors
- two bottles of Jose Cuervo
- two cartons of Newports
- four boxes of Black & Milds
- food
The U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta is described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a "sprawling complex" that once housed the infamous Al Capone, though that was during its maximum-security days. As the investigation is considered "ongoing," the FBI has not commented on the details of these recent break-ins and break-outs.
