Guard Charged in Prison Escape

Feb. 15, 2006 — -- Prosecutors have filed charges against a guard accusing him of helping six inmates escape from the Cook County Jail in Chicago last weekend.

Darin Gater, 36, an 11-year veteran with the Cook County Sheriff's office, initially told authorities that he was held at bay with a knife while inmates set fire to a mattress to lure another guard. They overpowered that guard and made their escape on Sunday, investigators said Gater told them. By Monday morning, all six inmates were caught and back in custody, and Gater allegedly admitted that he had helped the inmates.

According to authorities, Gater said he wanted to influence the forthcoming sheriff's election and to embarrass Sheriff Michael Sheahan.

Late Tuesday, Gater was charged with aggravated arson for setting a diversionary fire; two counts of possession of contraband, a shank and a cell phone; escape; two counts of aggravated battery to a correctional officer; and official misconduct. He is expected to appear in court today to hear the felony charges.

Though Gater is the only one charged at the moment, jail expert Charlie Fasano, with the John Howard Association, says there is no way one guard could have done this on his own.

"You're talking about a number of barriers and a number of other officers who have to either be intimidated or … or something. So it's a very complex thing and it's not a one, two, three and we're out of the jail," Fasano said.

Union spokesman Steve Calcaterra said Tuesday that because Gater had been criminally charged, this case was out of the union's hands. But the union continues to represent the other five officers who have been suspended with pay while investigators try to determine how six inmates escaped from the jail over the weekend.

The Chicago Police Department said it received a tip about the jailbreak on Saturday afternoon, several hours before the inmates bolted. Police officials said the information was passed to the sheriff's department, where proper procedure was followed by the person who answered the phone.

The jailbreak was the third at the Cook County Jail in the last 10 months. No inmates had escaped from the jail in the previous 10 years.

Gater, a former Marine who worked in the sheriff's department for 11 years, initially said he went into the shower area and removed an inmate's handcuffs and leg irons to let him shower. He said the inmate threw hot soapy water on him and held him at bay with the knife.

The inmate then handcuffed Gater, put on his uniform, and opened the electronic cell doors to let out six other inmates, according to Gater's original statements.

Reported by ABC News affiliate WLS-TV in Chicago.