A former inmate of a jail and a registered sex offender has been arrested on charges of sneaking into a jail.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Matthew Matagrano, 36, posed as a Department of Corrections Investigator to get into Rikers Island jail where he decided to spend two weeks in. There isn't a clear motive on why he would want to go back to the joil but in 2004 he also pretended to be a Department of Education official and sneaked into a jail in Queens.
"He tricked school officials into thinking he was a quality-assurance inspector and got access to - and looked at - 11 confidential student files, according to the district attorney's statement," reported the LA Times.
Matagrano was convicted of sexual abuse in 1996. He was arrested for sneaking into the jail on Thursday and charges include felony burglary.
"A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said authorities discovered Thursday that someone had gained unauthorized access to the jail by impersonating an employee and that within hours officials were able to identify Matagrano through sneak surveillance cameras," reported NBC News.
Sky News reported that Matagrano apparently raised suspicions of when he began moving inmates from one cell to another.
"The 36-year-old has a lengthy rap sheet that includes a conviction for sodomy and sexual abuse that landed him on the state's sex offender registry," reported NBC News. "It wasn't immediately clear if Matagrano had a lawyer yet."
Rikers Island is New York City's main jail complex. It is located in the East River between Queens and the Bronx and is adjacent to runways of LaGuardia Airport. The island is a part of the borough of the Bronx and is operated by the New York City Department of Correction. It has approximately 9,000 officers and 1,500 civilians as well a an inmate population of approximately 14,000.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
