Inmates Caught Infecting Themselves With Coronavirus to Get Freed from Jail - WATCH
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department releases disturbing video footage
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Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has released disturbing video footage which shows prison inmates intentionally trying to infect themselves with the coronavirus in the hope of getting released from jail.
Surveillance footage released by Sheriff Alex Villanueva reveals prisoners are deliberately spreading the virus as states continue to release inmates amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Villanueva released surveillance video from the Pitchess Detention Center during a press conference on Monday.
The footage shows inmates trying to contract the coronavirus crisis.
Over 20 inmates seen in the footage subsequently tested positive for coronavirus.
“It’s deeply disturbing,” Sheriff Villanueva said.
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In one portion of the footage, an inmate can be seen getting hot water from a dispensary that is available to all inmates.
Then, the inmate walks over to a group of fellow inmates where they pass the bottle around just before a nurse takes their temperature.
Villanueva said the inmates were not only drinking from the same bottle to try to get the coronavirus, but they were drinking the hot water to falsely show high-temperature symptoms of it.
“Under normal circumstances, no one would be doing that anyway, particularly when everyone has the same access to the water. … No one shares this,” Villanueva said.
“Now, they’re sharing the hot water and using the same bottle.”
Today, @LACoSheriff Villanueva spoke about a dangerous plot in our jail system: Inmates deliberately trying to catch #COVID19 in hopes of early release. Watch the news conference to see inmates pass around protective equipment https://t.co/m1tgOGmhGS… pic.twitter.com/J0rG1VmdNs
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) May 11, 2020
Other footage shows inmates drinking from the same Styrofoam cup and sniffing from a mask in order to infect themselves with coronavirus.
Villanueva said the inmates were deliberately crowding together and not social distancing despite being held in the relatively large space where distancing is possible.
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“It’s sad to think that someone deliberately tried to expose themself to [coronavirus],” Villanueva said.
“As a result of this behavior, from this particular modular, 21 inmates tested positive for [coronavirus] in a week of these videos being taken.”
“That is problematic because somehow there was a mistake in belief among the inmate population that if they tested positive that there was a way to force our hand and release more inmates out of our jail environment,” Villanueva said.
“And that’s not going to happen.”
Since March 11, California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has released more than 5,500 inmates into local communities, according to Breitbart.
In the last week, alone, nearly 315 inmates were freed from prison.
