Prosecutors get protection after escape

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CHICAGO, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Prosecutors involved in the case of Joseph "Jose" Banks, a convicted bank robber who escaped from a Chicago jail, were given special protection, officials said.

Banks escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center early Tuesday with fellow bank robber Kenneth Conley, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. They managed to bash a hole in their 17th-floor cell and slide down a rope made from sheets.

Last week, Banks yelled to the judge overseeing his case "You'll hear from me!" after he was found guilty of bank robbery. Normally convicts who make such threats are put in a special housing unit until the threat is checked out.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, as well as prosecutors in the case have been given extra protection until Banks is located, the newspaper said.