Justice

Released from Jail with Nothing, In the Middle of Hurricane Harvey

As conditions deteriorated, one man claims that jail officials simply released detainees.
This is what downtown Houston looked like on Tuesday, August 29, when Erick Coonrod was released. David J. Phillip/AP

On Tuesday afternoon, Erick Coonrod walked out into the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey with a pair of sweatpants, tennis shoes, and the T-shirt he had on—that’s it.

“No toothbrush,” he says. “Not a dollar in my pocket.”