Jail inmate smuggles gun in body cavity

A female inmate managed to smuggle a .22-caliber pistol into a jail holding cell by tucking it in one of her body cavities — well out of view of the arresting officer and Santa Clara County correctional deputies.

The discovery Wednesday of the unloaded gun — wrapped in toilet paper on the floor of the cell — spurred calls for county officials to expedite the purchase and installation of airport-style body scanners that have already been approved.

The inmate had apparently been patted down when she arrived at the Main Jail, but not stripsearched, sources said. A jail trustee discovered the gun behind the privacy screen that shields the toilet from view in the holding cell, sources said.

Arresting officers are technically responsible for searching suspects they bring to jail. On Friday, investigators were still trying to determine who smuggled in the weapon, and which police department booked her at the intake unit.

The body scanners were approved more than three months ago in the budget of the Department of Correction, which is overseen by the county board of supervisors and Sheriff Laurie Smith.

The scanners, which are estimated to cost $300,00 to $500,000, are capable of detecting a weapon hidden inside a body cavity, or “jail purse” in street lingo, as this pistol appears to have been.

“The preliminary investigation leads us to believe that a female arrestee hid the weapon inside her anatomy,” said Undersheriff and corrections Chief Carl Neusel in a written statement released Friday night, “and this underscores the need for arrestees to pass through full body scanners upon booking.”

“The county has approved funding and is in the process of procuring scanners for our custody facilities.”

The process for purchasing equipment for county departments can be lengthy, in part because the government must seek bids and find the lowest price.

However, some purchases can be expedited, if need be. County officials could not be reached Friday night for comment.

This is the second time in less than a month that the county jails have been thrust into an unflattering limelight.

In late September, a convicted felon who had just been sentenced to eight years in state prison for pistol-whipping his robbery victim was freed accidentally from Elmwood, another jail facility run by the county in Milpitas.

The errant release occurred because of a paperwork mistake made by a civilian clerk in the administrative booking unit.

To compound matters, the inmate was no longer listed on the jail roster, so correctional officers had no way of knowing he was missing until the paperwork mistake was discovered on Oct. 4, six days after he walked out of Elmwood.

But within a little more than 24 hours after the discovery, sheriff’s deputies who stayed up all night working on the case had nabbed him the next day, at Rancho del Pueblo Golf Course.