Breakfast tray jailbreak foiled by guards

MORRISON – Vowing to leave “one way or another,” an alleged cocaine dealer tried to break out of Whiteside County jail using a shank made from a broken plastic breakfast tray and a bed sheet.

Jonathan Payne, 32, was charged Wednesday with attempted escape, possession of a weapon by a felon, aggravated battery and two counts of criminal damage to government-supported property. His preliminary hearing is Wednesday.

A correctional officer was collecting breakfast trays from the maximum-security cell block on Oct. 15 when he noticed Payne’s was missing.

Payne, holding his shank made from a piece of the tray with a sheet-wrapped handle, pushed the officer out of the way, saying he was was “leaving the jail one way or another.”

He went into the hallway, where he was grabbed, Whiteside County Sheriff Kelly Wilhelmi said.

Payne was put into a holding cell in a segregation wing, where he has been since, jail officials reported.

Payne, formerly of Lake Buchanan, Texas, was arrested Sept. 18 and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a school; possession with intent to deliver; possession and obstructing justice.

Police say he went to the home of an acquaintance that night to ask whether the man knew anyone who might want to buy crack. The man called police when Payne refused to leave.

When they arrived, they found cocaine in his shirt pocket, police said.

Payne’s bond is now $700,000: $200,000 in the drug case, and $500,000 for the attempted escape.