Inmate Captured Hours After He Walks Away From Work Detail

CHICAGO (STMW) -- A man imprisoned at the Cook County Jail for just nine days escaped a work detail at an animal control facility Saturday morning — but was found hours later waiting for a getaway ride at a North Side chicken fast-food restaurant.

Vincent Tervel was apprehended at the Popeye's Chicken at Addison and Western about 3 p.m., according to Cook County Sheriff's office spokeswoman Cara Smith, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Tervel, 36, was charged with possession of burglary tools on Sept. 19 for allegedly stealing copper from gravestones at Rosehill Cemetery.

Tervel was working a detail at the Animal Care & Control facility in the 2700 block of South Western when he was able to walk out of the building, Smith said.

There were 16 workers at the facility and two guards, at the time of the escape.

"They have never had an issue at the facility, other than a detainee getting bit," Smith said.

Smith said Tervel was found at the fast-food restaurant at Addison and Western — some 10 miles away — about 3 p.m.

"He was just waiting to get picked up," Smith said.

She said police are investigating who Tervel had called for a ride, and that person may face charges.

It's unclear how Tervel managed to get to the North Side. Smith said he was wearing a white shirt and brown pants and did not have any personal property or money on him.

Tervel is also awaiting trial in Kendall County for aggravated assault and attempting to run over a police officer, according to court records.

Tervel's escape is the latest in Cook County Jail mishaps this year. On Sept. 17, Jeremiah Harris — who is serving a 12-year prison term for being an "armed habitual criminal" — was supposed to return to Stateville Correction Center in Joliet but was instead mistakenly released. A Cook County judge apparently never entered an order to return Harris to prison, officials said.

Another man accused of domestic violence was found at his girlfriend's home in late August after the jail mistakenly released him July 30. Steven Derkits' absence went unnoticed until Aug. 21 when sheriff's officers realized he had been released after a no-show in court.

And in January, Steven L. Robins — serving 50 years for murder and a gun charge — was mistakenly released from the jail, but was apprehended days later in Kankakee. Sheriff Tom Dart at the time said he believed a paperwork problem was to blame.

Just yesterday, Walter Redawn Dixon was captured after spending the last 9½ months free because he was mistakenly released from Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet in an apparent paperwork snafu. Dixon had been finishing up a sentence in Cook County case before beginning a federal prison term.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)