Police Find Evidence Of Suspected Jailbreak Plot

Posted: April 28, 2008 05:44 PM
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Police Find Evidence Of Suspected Gang Jailbreak Plot
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Police confiscated maps of the federal courthouse from members of a street gang.

Police said it was a sign that members of MS-13 might consider an ambush to spring fellow gang members from custody.

"MS-13 swept into Nashville like a pack of jackals and they left a group of bloody victims in their wake," said Jim Cavanaugh, special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, in an interview last year.

Last year, a grand jury indicted 13 MS-13 members accused of killing three people and trying to kill seven others.

Some have been convicted and others remain in the Davidson County jail awaiting trial.

Law enforcement is concerned that fellow gang members could plan an ambush and escape.

NewsChannel 5 learned maps were confiscated from suspects that security and arrival time for inmates at the federal courthouse.

Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall said the original maps are now in evidence. He said although the maps were crudely sketched, they were detailed.

He said no one has confessed to planning an ambush, but believes such maps target the trip from jail to courthouse.

Travel time is the most vulnerable part of security for inmates. Court hearings are scheduled for later this spring.

Hall will increase security during transport of gang inmates.

Sheriff's deputies work with the U.S. Marshals. Later this week several sheriff's deputies will be deputized by the U.S. Marshals so they have more power to deal with dangerous gang members.

The predominantly Latino gang originated in Los Angeles. It is one of the nation's largest gangs with an estimated 10,000 members in more than 10 states.

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