Details Surface In Prisoner's Release

We've searched for details of how a man wanted on federal firebomb charges was released from jail with no questions. Police suspect Montez Menifee is in the middle of gang crime retaliation from last week, but tonight Menifee remains out of jail. We checked into some jail records and found the federal hold on Menifee did not show up when he was booked.

And the mother of the young man police suspect Menifee targeted says gang life here is ending young lives."I'm worried about his safety too. Because if they went this far to do this, they're not going to stop. I think this is going to keep going on and on," Jocelyn Davenport told us last week she was very worried about her son, Kenny McCullough. He lives with her and their home was fire bombed just hours after police believe Courrie Long fatally stabbed LaTony Johnson last Thursday morning.

Two days ago, the ATF, Chattanooga Fire and police found seven molotov cocktails.Those agencies say the explosives belonged to Montez Menifee....believed to be in a rival gang of McCullough, known as Little Kenny. Two years ago, Little Kenny testified a swarm of 40 people in red came upon his car at the Boys Club across from East Lake Courts where Johnson was murdered last week. McCullough denied being in a gang, but police are checking connections to The Rollin 60's Crips.

Fast forward to this week. The A-T-F made its big break but police pick up Menifee on old charges of theft and assault. We're told the feds wanted him to stay in jail. Chattanooga police information officer, Lt. Kim Noorbergen explained, "ATF placed a federal hold. It's our understanding that that hold was placed on him, however he was allowed to make bond." We dug into Menifee's booking record. Chief magistrate Yolanda Mitchell set Menifee's bond at one thousand dollars on each charge of theft and assault.

Looking closely at his booking sheet, we say "Custody Change" and "Other Agencys Hold" are blank. There was no instruction to keep him in jail. He walked out of jail just after four o'clock Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, our cameras rolled as several police cars, and K-9 units waited outside of Johnson's funeral yesterday. They suspected after Manifee's mistaken release, he may pay respects to his friend. We wanted to explain the relevance to you of Menifee's release and how police are trying to connect some of the crimes that have happened last week. Now police tell me Menifee and Johnson were both in the A.P. Bloods and Bloods are known to live in Alton Park, but in this case the A.P. Stands for Athens Park. Little Kenny's mother says Chattanooga gang life must stop. "They going to kill each other for nothing. Over a gang? Saying you got this, you got that, You don't own nothing but your name, and your momma gave you that," Davenport said.

Chattanooga police tell us they're trying to get to the bottom of how Manifee walked out of jail. We discovered although the federal hold does NOT SHOW up on his booking paperwork, it could be in one other file stored in Jail Records.However, that office was closed today for the holiday.