Mokena Schools on 'Safety Hold,' Lockdown after Escapees Spotted in Tinley

Schools in Mokena School District 159  are on a 'safety hold' and St. Mary School in Mokena is under lockdown this afternoon after two convicted bank robbers who escaped from a jail in the Loop were seen in the Tinley Park area.

District 159 schools and St. Mary's all had indoor recess, and police officers will oversee dismissal at all schools, according to representatives from D159 and St. Mary's.

D159 officals said a 'safety hold,' means that district schools have all their doors and windows locked, with access to the school entirely closed. St. Mary's representatives said the school is always locked for students' safety and that the school would follow D159's lead on having Mokena police on-site during dismissal.

Jose Banks, 37, and Kenneth Conley, 38, are both convicted bank robbers, and should be considered armed and dangerous, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Authorities earlier surrounded a home in Tinley Park, near 66th Court and 175th Street, but officers later left, and no one was scene taken from the house.

The men escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in the Loop some time between 5 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., according to a report from the Chicago Tribune.  Authorities believe the men used tied-together rope or bed sheets to climb down the building, according to ABC News.

Banks is described as 5 feet 8 inches, 160 pounds and black. Conley is described as 6 feet, 185 pounds and white. The men were originally wearing orange jumpsuits, but may now be wearing white shirts, sweat pants and white gym shoes.

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