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| Attack Spurs Look at Indiana Jail Security |
| By Indianapolis Star |
| Published: 11/26/2001 |
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Possible security breaches at the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center were being examined after two correction officers were beaten and four teen-age boys briefly escaped. Hamilton County Sheriff Joe Cook, obviously emotional about the attacks on his unarmed civilian officers, said Tuesday it was too soon to tell whether lapses in staffing, electronic surveillance or procedures contributed to the incident that left one officer critically injured. Four officers were scheduled to work Monday on the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift, but only two were on duty when the officers were attacked. Officer Ann Davidson, 54, of Anderson suffered severe head injuries when she was bludgeoned with a flashlight and other items from the control room where she was working, said Sheriff's Sgt. Eddie Moore. Davidson was airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Her condition was upgraded from critical to serious but stable on Tuesday. Officer Toby Warner, 26, of Elwood was taken to Riverview Hospital by ambulance. He was treated for multiple head and facial injuries and released. Warner could not be reached Tuesday for comment. Monday's escape was only the second from the center since it opened in 1993, Cook said. In the earlier incident, an inmate escaped over the fence from an outdoor recreation area but was quickly captured. Violent escapes from juvenile detention facilities are infrequent. 'It's few and far between,' said Robert Ross of the Indiana Juvenile Justice Task Force. 'It's very rare that you get one that severe. I was amazed by the severity of it.' Noblesville police apprehended the four suspects at Noble Manor Apartments, across the street from the sheriff's complex, within minutes of the 6:50 p.m. attack, Moore said. Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp said she would seek to have the suspects -- one 16 and the others 17 - waived into adult court. A detention hearing was scheduled for November 21. The youths were being held on preliminary charges of escape, battery on a police officer with serious bodily injury and attempted murder, Moore said. Davidson and Warner were the only officers on duty at the time to watch the 18 boys and four girls being held at the center. Cook said one officer had called in sick and another was called away because her sister was involved in a traffic accident. A substitute was not called because the officer was not expected to be gone long, Cook said. The officer was gone about three hours and returned shortly after the incident, he said. |
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