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Eight prisoners were shackled inside a transport van being transported to Mississippi on Saturday, August 8. While making a stop at one of the gas stations on I-57 near Manhattan and Monee Roads in Monee, Walter Wilson, 25, escaped the transport van at about 10:43 p.m. Residents of Monee received a Will County Emergency Management Agency alert phone call explaining the prisoner escape situation approximately 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. An all-points bulletin was announced for Wilson. Helicopters, Police squads and even Cook County officers with trained blood hound dogs were searching for him. On Sunday night, a citizen spotted him walking east on Sauk Trail towards Cicero Avenue at approximately 9:20 p.m. Richton Park Police arrested Wilson a short time later. He was still wearing shackles on his legs. At approximately 11 p.m., residents received an alert that he was captured. The last thing anyone wants to think about is emergencies such as this in the community. But emergencies happen, and being prepared is always the best approach.
That's why the Will County Emergency Management Agency, Will County Emergency Telephone System Board, along with several industries in Will County have teamed up to provide an enhanced emergency alert system for neighborhoods. If the proper authorities do not take the time to place a phone call to the WCEMA within a reasonable time frame, residents question the system. One such resident is John Anderson, who recently announced his candidacy for Will County Judge. ''I am deeply concerned and frustrated as to why law enforcement agencies did not issue the reverse-911 warning on Saturday night when the prisoner escaped.'' ''The county has a cutting-edge notification system designed to alert residents for this precise type of situation. As I understand it, we make this system available to various law enforcement agencies, but for the system to work, someone in law enforcement needs to activate it.'' ''There are a number of law enforcement agencies that could have activated the system, but nobody did it for roughly 12 hours. I absolutely don't want to point blame or fingers at anyone--at this point, it is done. I want us to use this as a learning experience so that it does not happen again'' he said. When the Monee Police Chief was asked why the phone call was not placed sooner, his response was that he didn't know. He also said that the system is new. Monee Mayor Dan Tovo commented that he will check into this matter and see what can be done to improve the communication. It is not clear at this time who should have placed the alert call; the transport service, the state police, Will County or Monee. The transport service, state police and Will County police were unavailable for comment. Barb Dorman is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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