Two Prison Guards Charged With Looting During Baltimore Riots

Two female prison guards assigned to a Baltimore jail stand accused of looting a 7-11 convenience store during last month’s riots. The city was engulfed in violence following the death of Freddie Gray from a spinal injury while in police custody.

Six police officers have since been charged in Gray’s death.

Law enforcement authorities acting on a tip said the corrections officer duo were allegedly caught on video in the act of helping themselves to some snacks. “The video, recorded during the evening of April 25, shows two women later identified as Tamika Cobb and Kendra Richard leaving the store with merchandise,” the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correction Services announced.

The two corrections officers were charged yesterday with theft and burglary and have been placed on an unpaid suspension. Both worked at a downtown Baltimore jail.

Bail was set at $35,000 for each officer, the Baltimore Sun reported, adding that footage allegedly purports to show Richard, who reportedly was wearing yellow sneakers emerging from the store with Slim Jims in hand, while Cobb, apparently attired with a black jacket, was holding Tostitos.

“Our Intelligence and Investigative Division did an outstanding job, immediately following-up on this tip,” declared Public Safety boss Stephen T. Moyer. “We will not allow the vast majority of our employees who are honest and hardworking to be tainted by the actions of a few.”

Baltimore’s jails and their staff have had issues in the past. As The Inquisitr detailed in February, for example, one resourceful prison inmate was allegedly able to impregnate four female prison guards and run a drug operation while in a Baltimore jail. All of this was done while the former gang leader was locked behind bars on charges of attempted murder.

The scandal at the jail apparently ran much deeper. “In April 2013, a federal indictment was unsealed which revealed a massive conspiracy between [Baltimore] correctional officers and inmates. Twenty-four correctional officers have been convicted for various offenses related to their involvement with the notorious Black Guerilla Family gang. Many of the officers had sexual relations with the gang members and helped them smuggle drugs into the facility,” The Daily Caller explained.

According to U.S. government estimates, the April 2015 rioting in Baltimore following the Freddie Gray protests caused about $9 million in property damage to 284 businesses.

The footage below purports to show two corrections officers allegedly participating in looting a downtown Baltimore 7-11 store.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIdlQqL-oUE

[Photo via Baltimore Police Department]