A corrections officer is hospitalized after being badly beaten at the federal prison in Coleman.
Guards at the prison aren’t allowed to carry any kind of protection, they just have their radios with alarms. News 13 has been told the alarm system had recently been repaired, and they are still investigating whether it worked properly when the attack happened.
Union representative Joe Rojas, who viewed video of the incident Monday morning, says the attack happened in the food prep area yesterday morning.
The corrections officer was beaten for more than three minutes until help arrived.
Immediately after, he says there was no lockdown and no one called for medical assistance. The corrections officer was later treated at the hospital for a concussion.
“911 should have been called and sent him to the hospital, I understand the staff probably didn’t want to go to the hospital but at that point he wasn’t in his senses, he had a concussion and they didn’t call an ambulance that’s my concern,” said Rojas.
News 13 was told the penitentiary was locked down about two hours later, and the warden is currently assessing the situation. Calls asking for a comment have not yet been returned.
Several notable criminals are serving their sentences at the Coleman prison complex. Allen Stanford, who's serving life for a massive Ponzi scheme that cost investors $7 billion, Native American activist Leonard Peltier who is serving two life sentences for killing two FBI agents, and former Pennsylvania judge Michael Conahan who is serving a 17-year sentence for taking bribes to send kids to a private prison.