Prisoner pat-down misses gun hidden in body cavity

Randy Orton

WC's Resident Alchoholic

Prisoner pat-down misses gun hidden in body cavity
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Aaron Marshall
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Move over, Bond girls.

A Ross County jail inmate hid a gun so well that not even the guards who did an extensive pat-down found it.

The Cleveland woman hid a loaded handgun inside her body and smuggled it all the way to her jail cell, where it accidentally fired when she was trying to hide it.

"While in the holding cell, she removed a .25-caliber semiautomatic from her vaginal cavity," Chillicothe Police Capt. Tom Hewitt said yesterday.

Victoria Lundy, 41, hid the gun in the toilet-paper holder. It fell to the floor and discharged. The bullet lodged in the ceiling as guards scrambled to quickly recover the weapon, Hewitt said.

Lundy was arrested early Monday morning after Chillicothe police officers were called to a Warner Street home on a report of shots being fired.

Lundy, who authorities say was driving a car seen speeding away after the shooting, was arrested on charges of driving without a license and driving under suspension.

Lundy’s booking at the Ross County jail was anything but normal. Hewitt said after a patdown was conducted, Lundy was seen trying to swallow some Vicodin pills and began tussling with officers attempting to stop her. She was sent to a holding cell away from the general population.

Hewitt said the small handgun that Lundy hid from police was the one they suspect was used at the Warner Street house.

Authorities say they plan to charge Lundy, who remains in a Chillicothe hospital recovering from taking the pills, with carrying a concealed weapon, conveyance of a firearm into a detention facility, discharging a firearm into a habitat and having a weapon while under disability. The last charge relates to the fact that Lundy was already under indictment for a drug offense in Cuyahoga County, Hewitt said.

Authorities didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary when they searched Lundy, Hewitt said.

"Apparently, they felt she was acting strange, but it wasn’t until the shot rang out that they realized she had a gun," he said.

Hewitt said the incident won’t likely change jail policy.

"It’s the first time I’ve heard of it in my 25 years" he said. "There’s not a whole lot you can do. You can’t do body-cavity searches without a search warrant."

The pat-down of Lundy did include a search of the crotch area, said Assistant Jail Administrator Capt. Tim Holman of the Ross County sheriff’s office.

"It’s crazy, but it’s made us a little more aware," Holman said.