ATLANTA (AP) - An unauthorized rap video was being filmed Thursday night at the Fulton County Jail, the same night an inmate escaped for several hours.
A video for rapper Clifford Harris, whose stage name is T.I., was being filmed around the same time as the escape of Cara Williams, 23. Dressed in medical scrubs, Williams slipped out a door for employees.
Embarrassed jail officials said the video shoot was unauthorized and that it had nothing to do with Williams' escape. She was found six hours later at a gas station.
A spokesman for Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett said she had no idea a rap video was being filmed inside her jail.
Lt. Clarence Huber said he had no details about the scope of the shoot: how many people were there or how far away Williams was from the shoot. He promised those details would be disclosed later.
``We did find out there was some sort of video being shot,'' Huber said. ``There is a lot we're still looking into.''
Huber originally said Harris was an inmate in the jail, although calls to the records department indicated he was not. Huber and Barrett did not return several calls seeking clarification.
Harris' second album, ``Trap Muzik,'' was a best-seller on the charts last year. The best-known song from that album, ``Rubber Band Man,'' includes the lyric, ``Call me trouble man/ always in trouble man.'' Harris' first album, ``I'm Serious,'' was released in 2001.
An Atlantic Records spokesman for the rapper did not immediately return calls for comment.
Huber insisted the video shoot didn't help Williams escape. She was being processed on a probation violation and was already wearing blue scrubs when she entered the jail.
The video ``doesn't appear to have affected this,'' Huber said.
Acting on a tip, police recaptured Williams around 2 a.m. Friday morning.
Williams is the latest in a number of escapes and accidental releases from the jail - her escape is the tenth such incident during the last 16 months. It also comes after a monitor released a report last week saying conditions at the jail were becoming increasingly dangerous and unhealthy because of crowding and inadequate security.
Fulton County Chairwoman Karen Handel, who has long been critical of Barrett, blasted the sheriff for not knowing a rap video was being filmed in the 3,200-inmate jail.
``You're going to have a video crew roaming around the jail? I don't understand why that was even remotely considered,'' Handel said. ``I don't care whether she knew or didn't know. The buck stops with her, and this should've been an automatic 'No.''
A video for rapper Clifford Harris, whose stage name is T.I., was being filmed around the same time as the escape of Cara Williams, 23. Dressed in medical scrubs, Williams slipped out a door for employees.
Embarrassed jail officials said the video shoot was unauthorized and that it had nothing to do with Williams' escape. She was found six hours later at a gas station.
A spokesman for Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett said she had no idea a rap video was being filmed inside her jail.
Lt. Clarence Huber said he had no details about the scope of the shoot: how many people were there or how far away Williams was from the shoot. He promised those details would be disclosed later.
``We did find out there was some sort of video being shot,'' Huber said. ``There is a lot we're still looking into.''
Huber originally said Harris was an inmate in the jail, although calls to the records department indicated he was not. Huber and Barrett did not return several calls seeking clarification.
Harris' second album, ``Trap Muzik,'' was a best-seller on the charts last year. The best-known song from that album, ``Rubber Band Man,'' includes the lyric, ``Call me trouble man/ always in trouble man.'' Harris' first album, ``I'm Serious,'' was released in 2001.
An Atlantic Records spokesman for the rapper did not immediately return calls for comment.
Huber insisted the video shoot didn't help Williams escape. She was being processed on a probation violation and was already wearing blue scrubs when she entered the jail.
The video ``doesn't appear to have affected this,'' Huber said.
Acting on a tip, police recaptured Williams around 2 a.m. Friday morning.
Williams is the latest in a number of escapes and accidental releases from the jail - her escape is the tenth such incident during the last 16 months. It also comes after a monitor released a report last week saying conditions at the jail were becoming increasingly dangerous and unhealthy because of crowding and inadequate security.
Fulton County Chairwoman Karen Handel, who has long been critical of Barrett, blasted the sheriff for not knowing a rap video was being filmed in the 3,200-inmate jail.
``You're going to have a video crew roaming around the jail? I don't understand why that was even remotely considered,'' Handel said. ``I don't care whether she knew or didn't know. The buck stops with her, and this should've been an automatic 'No.''
