Lamont Cathey needs psychiatric care, jail officials say

May 26, 2015 13:28 GMT  ·  By

About a year and a half ago, a young man by the name of Lamont Cathey was taken into police custody and put behind bars after having robbed a pizzeria and stolen money from the establishment's safe. 

Since he was locked up at the Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois, he's had to be hospitalized as many as 24 times and even subjected to several surgical interventions.

Apparently, this young man, now 17 years old, is in the habit of literally eating away at his jail, one loose screw at a time. Hence his many visits to the emergency room over the past 16 months.

Looking after this inmate doesn't come cheap

According to Cook County Jail executive director Cara Smith, 17-year-old Lamont Cathey has so far eaten screws, needles and whatever other metal objects he happened to find lying around.

“He's literally eating the jail,” Cara Smith told the press in a recent interview.

To save his life each and every time he has until now swallowed bits and pieces of the facility, the Cook County Jail has racked up a whopping $1 million (€0.9 million) in medical fees, Metro informs.

Ironically, Lamont Cathey, once a teen basketball star in hometown Chicago, was imprisoned because he didn't have $5,000 (€4,550) to post bond when he was arrested for the pizzeria robbery.

Lamont Cathey is a deeply troubled young man 

Cook County Jail executive director Cara Smith is the first to admit that 17-year-old Lamont Cathey is a troubled lad who needs psychiatric care.

“This case to me is a perfect example of the failure of the criminal justice system. It’s been a crushingly sad and very frustrating case,” the jail official said in a statement.

The man is understood to have several mental health issues, depression being just one of them. This explains his habit of snacking on metal objects.   

His family insists that, before having been arrested, Lamont Cathey was perfectly fine.   

Lamont Cathey needs psychiatric care
Lamont Cathey needs psychiatric care

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Inmate in Chicago, US, is literally eating his jail
Lamont Cathey needs psychiatric care
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