Murderer Recaptured In Chicago After Accidental Release

A murderer has been recaptured in Chicago after he was accidentally released earlier this week.

Steven L. Robbins, 44, was accidentally released from a Chicago prison last weekend. Police said that Robbins was released due to a “clerical error” which involved some outdated paper work.

Sheriff Thomas J. Dart told ABC News:

“Because no paperwork had gone to the jail about him coming from Indiana, all the people in the records room saw was a guy whose court case was dismissed. And so he — like another 200 people a day we release — was released…out the front door of the jail.”

Dart said that Robbins was brought in front of a judge to face a 20-year-old warrant relating to drug charges. The case had expired in 2007 so the judge dismissed Robbins, gave him a pair of civilian clothes, and sent him out the door.

Robbins, who was serving a 60-year-sentence for shooting a man in 2002, got the week off from prison due to the clerical mistake. Police were able to rearrest Robbins on Friday night without incident.

The Associated Press reports that officers talked to Robbins family and friends in order to locate the released prisoner in Kankakee, Illinois.