An inmate dressed in a three-piece suit who escaped from Manhattan Criminal Court this week when he was mistaken for a lawyer was recaptured last night after police spotted him getting off a bus in New York, reports FOX News.
And Ronald Tackman likely will find it a bit harder to make an unauthorized departure if he tries again. Since he walked out of the courthouse on Wednesday, new security measures have been imposed, reports the New York Post. Among them: Real lawyers are now being asked to show identification every time they are in a courtroom that has a prisoner holding cell.
The newspaper says several errors facilitated Tackman's escape. His handcuffs were removed by a correction officer before he reached a holding pen, in violation of policy. And, under new regulations, inmates can only wear their own clothing for "trial appearances"; Tackman was in court for a pretrial hearing.
Meanwhile, inmates are no longer required to wear bright orange sneakers.
"The biggest mistake they ever made was changing orange sneakers to black," says Sidney Schwartzbaum, who serves as president of a local wardens union. "They would stick out like a sore thumb."