Prisoners breach Cape County jail security

Two male prisoners at the Cape Girardeau County Jail spent four hours in the cell pods housing female prisoners on Monday morning, Sheriff John Jordan reported.

The prisoners, being held on federal charges, were able to slip past jailers and security cameras and gained help from other inmates distracting the guards to move from their cells to the female area of the jail, Jordan said.

As a result of the security breach, the U.S. Marshall Service removed 19 of the 29 federal detainees being held in the jail, including the two men, Jordan said.

"Some days are diamonds and some days are stone and this was one of those stones," Jordan said.

The two men gained entrance to a cell block where one of the men's girlfriend is also being held on federal charges. Jordan did not disclose the names of the inmates or the charges against them. No additional charges will be filed as a result of the security breach, Jordan said.

"We don't have all of the details yet," Jordan said. "We are pretty sure that we know what took place. One of them had been in there for almost a year and he had time to sit and watch and look to find a weakness. We have been in this facility a little over six years and this is the first time someone had figured out a way to steal away into another pod."

Check back at www.semissourian.com for more details or read Wednesday's Southeast Missourian.