Golf is very important for some people. In Captain Jeff Donahue's case, it seems that shaving a few strokes off of his handicap was worth abusing his police power and busting out a professional golfer-turned-inmate for a few lessons. 

 "He [Donahue] kind of has this swing that's old school and risky, but he hits it every time," the ex-professional golfer/jewel thief/inmate and now-released Frank Carrillo said in a phone interview with the Los Angeles Times. "I would probably say he's a 14 or 15 handicap. Not too bad."   According to the Times' Robert Faturechi, Donahue allegedly took Carillo to a hilltop golf course on on Catalina Island last summer and, "dressed in his yellow inmate jumpsuit, Carrillo said, he gave the captain pointers on how to improve his swing and reduce a double-digit handicap."

Donahue, a Sheriff's captain at Catalina's Avalon Station, is now under investigation for an inappropriate relationship with an inmate. But what's perhaps most surprising--beating out the fact Carrillo was actually in jail for stealing a World Series championship ring-- is that the Times is reporting that Donahue's station is split, with some deputies not seeing a problem with a Sheriff's captain taking an inmate out (we would call it hooky but it seems more serious than that) for some sunshine and golf pointers. Which means that if you're going to jail—not that we condone breaking the law —try and make sure it's on Catalina Island. 

Image by Will Hughes via Shutterstock

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at aabadsantos at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Alexander Abad-Santos