COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — An inmate tossed a loaded gun into a Cook County Jail trash bin Sunday after smuggling the gun inside through the "crotch area of his pants," prosecutors said.
Maintenance staff found the .32 caliber Kel-Tec handgun loaded with 8 bullets inside a garbage can early Sunday, according to prosecutors and the Cook County Sheriff's Office.
It had been left in the jail's receiving area, where new prisoners are brought in by outside law-enforcement agencies, the sheriff's office said.
Investigators reviewing surveillance footage spotted 25-year-old Quentin Jones remove the gun from the "crotch area of his pants" and place it in a garbage can while waiting to be processed Saturday, Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said during a bond hearing Thursday.
Jones can be seen crouching near the silver table in the upper left hand corner of the surveillance video:
Jones had initially been arrested Saturday on domestic-battery charges, court records show.
Jones, of the 4500 block of West Harrison Street, is now charged with possession of a gun in a penal institution. He was previously convicted of possession of a controlled substance. The domestic-battery case is still pending.
Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan on Thursday set bail at $50,000.
According to Public Defender Patrick Keegan, Jones is a high school graduate with four children. He most recently worked as a dishwasher.