EUCLID, Ohio - Video shows drugs and a phone dropped by a drone into an Ohio jail as jailers nationwide worry more about drones.
The video comes from inside the Cuyahoga County Jail Euclid complex. In it, you can see inmates out for recreation, and one man starts staring up and wandering. He does that for about 20 seconds and then tries to grab something falling from the sky. It hits the ground and he covers it with jail clothing, picks it up and walks away.
Cuyahoga County officials said a drone dropped marijuana and a phone. It happened in June, but it wasn’t discovered until days later.
The video was released to WJW on Tuesday.
A report also refers to “suspected drugs, cell phones, and other miscellaneous items that were previously found on the roof…” at the same complex.
Sheriff’s deputies finished their investigation and the case has just been given to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office so that they can consider charges.
Lock-ups nationwide are making headlines for incidents with drones and jailers are now talking about what they have to do about the problem.
“If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere," Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth told WJW.
In recent years, a drone dropped drugs into a prison yard in Mansfield. A drone crashed with drugs and hacksaw blades in Oklahoma. In Pennsylvania, security spotted a drone possibly trying to catch a glimpse of celebrity inmate Bill Cosby. The number of cases keeps growing.
“You try to stay one step ahead as best you can, but you try to learn from incidents like this locally and nationally," Sigsworth said.
“It does happen - but infrequently. We have several security mechanisms in place to help prevent contraband entering our facilities in this manner," said JoElen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Corrections.
The Federal Aviation Administration also added new rules restricting drones around federal prisons and more.
