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Video Shows Tense Hostage Standoff And Stabbing At Cook County Jail

By Stephanie Lulay | July 29, 2016 5:29pm | Updated on August 1, 2016 8:44am
 Video released late Friday shows a tense hostage situation and jail takeover at the Cook County Jail Thursday.
Video released late Friday shows a tense hostage situation and jail takeover at the Cook County Jail Thursday.
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Cook County Sheriff's Office

LITTLE VILLAGE — Two videos released late Friday shows a tense hostage situation and jail takeover at the Cook County Jail Thursday. 

Two inmates, Martin Alvarado, 24, and Cordarryl Stevenson, 27, are expected to be charged after taking control of a housing tier and holding another inmate hostage at the jail, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced late Friday. 

An inmate was injured in the hostage situation and was transported to an area hospital for treatment of what appeared to be minor injuries. A weapon was recovered from the scene. 

At 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Division 10 detainees Alvarado and Stevenson took control of their housing tier, covering the floor with soapy water, a Sheriff's Office spokesperson said. The inmates then obscured the fixed cameras on the tier before tearing them down completely.

In the first 14-second clip, a man waving what appears to be a shank hovers over another inmate, the victim, who is his knees against the tier's glass doors with his hands up. 

At one point, the man holds the sharp object up to the victim's head. 

A sheriff's deputy narrating the scene can be heard saying: "This is in reaction to what's going on." 

Warning: Graphic video

In the second 60-second video, the victim appears to have been forced behind other inmates, away from the glass doors and deputies. 

Suddenly, the group of inmates turn around toward the hostage scene, and a sheriff's deputy can be heard saying: "He just stabbed him again. He just stabbed him in the leg." 

Another sheriff's deputy says: "Why are you doing that? Why are you doing that?"

Then, more than a dozen members of the jail's Emergency Response team storm the cell block in riot gear and take custody of the two inmates. A booming noise can be heard before the deputies enter the room. 

Video released late Friday shows a tense hostage situation and jail takeover at the Cook County Jail Thursday. [Cook County Sheriff's Office]

A criminal investigation is ongoing and additional criminal charges are expected against both inmates, officials said.

There were no injuries to staff or to the other 15 detainees housed on the tier, Dart's office said. 

Alvarado has been in Cook County Jail custody since April 2015 on a murder charge stemming from a Cicero Police Department arrest. Stevenson has been in custody since September 2014 on charges of armed robbery and aggravated vehicular hijacking, stemming from a Skokie Police Department arrest, according to a Sheriff's office spokesperson. 

In June, Alvarado was charged with battery against another detainee. Stevenson was charged in October 2014 and July 2015 with aggravated battery to a peace officer. In each incident, Stevenson punched a correctional deputy. In May 2016 he was charged with disarming a peace officer.

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