sdominick/iStock(LOS ANGELES) — It’s pretty common knowledge that prison isn’t school. Meaning, if you get sick, you aren’t sent home to mom and dad.
Well, some prisoners in Los Angeles were hoping that COVID-19 would be their ticket out of jail.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, roughly two dozen inmates jumped in on a COVID-spreading scheme in which they all drank from the same cup and all wore the same mask.
Some even chugged hot water in hopes of fooling the thermometer during a recent health check.
And the plan worked — partially. The Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, California reported a 60 percent increase in COVID-19 cases, which sparked an internal investigation to find out why the virus was spreading so quickly through the prison.
Which is when the inmates’ plan fell apart, because they forgot one thing: everything they did to get sick was caught on camera. Meaning, the wardens saw everything.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva was left shaking his head over the harebrained scheme, telling the newspaper, “There was some mistaken belief among the inmate population that if they tested positive, there was a way to force our hand and somehow release more inmates out of our jail environment, and that’s not gonna happen.”
Villanueva added, “There’s a reason why these people are behind bars to begin with, because they violated the norms of society,” criticizing the inmates’ poor judgement for not only endangering themselves but everyone around them.
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