Editor’s Note: This article is NOT about the article in today’s Shelby Star reporting that four deputies were attacked in the Lincoln County Jail. This news is closer home. From the Cleveland County Jail in Shelby.
This article is also NOT about the critical shortage and high turnover of qualified personnel at the Cleveland County jail. Or an escape or a murder in a holding cell. What happened here is a reliable source reported to me this very morning that an inmate in the Cleveland County jail was attacked sometime last week, sucker-punched to the head by another inmate, dragged back to his bunk, where he remained in critical condition for over an hour before the jail staff realized he was hurt badly and called the EMS. The EMS reportedly immediately had the inmate flown to a hospital where he survived the concussion and bleeding into the brain cavity.
The perpetrator allegedly fashioned and improvised set of “brass knuckles” from the jail food packaging materials and used this as a weapon to seriously injure his victim.
The perpetrator has been charged with several felony crimes related to this incident.
For additional information, names, charges, etc. Call the Shelby Star and recommend that they send a reporter across the street to the Sheriff’s Office to get the details of this incident. Perhaps that Star reporter should request a tour of the jail where this incident happened and take some pictures and ask some questions. The Star is the one charging for their news reporting, not me.
Also, I recommend calling the County Commissioners about their plans for building a costly new Courthouse and a more costly new Jail House. And who they plan to hire as the architect and construction company. And why they have not seen to it that the jailhouse is staffed properly to prevent jailbreaks, and injury to inmates as well as injury to jail personnel.
Stay tuned for more detail as I get them.