Charges pending after prisoner attacks sheriff
Published Saturday November 22nd, 2008
HAMPTON - Proceedings at provincial court in Hampton came to a halt when a scuffle occurred on the floor below between a sheriff and the 26-year-old prisoner he was guarding.
Sgt. Steve Gourdeau of the Hampton RCMP said the problem occurred when the prisoner attempted to retrieve contraband his girlfriend is suspected of having taped to the base of a toilet.
The prisoner, who is serving time in the Saint John Correctional Centre for theft-related charges in Saint John, had already gone before Judge Henrik Tonning in court Tuesday morning and pleaded not guilty to stealing a bottle of perfume from Kennebecasis Drugs on Dec. 20, 2007.
He was returned, in cuffs, to the prisoner/sheriff's area downstairs while he awaited his transportation back to the correctional centre.
Meanwhile, court proceeded upstairs until a witness who was leaving the courthouse saw the altercation on the main level. He ran up the stairs and into the courtroom as it was in session, calling for help.
As police and sheriffs responded, the smell of pepper spray drifted upstairs and created a coughing frenzy in the courtroom. Tonning opted to adjourn proceedings for a half an hour while the courtroom was cleared of the potent spray the sheriff had used to ward off the prisoner.
Cpl. Pat Cole, the RCMP's district court official, was in court that day. He said the prisoner had plugged the toilet in the main floor holding area with paper towels. As a result, he was escorted to the nearby public washroom in the hallway. A sheriff waited outside the door.
When the sheriff heard the prisoner rummaging inside the bathroom, he opened the door and found the prisoner holding tobacco. When the sheriff attempted to retrive the contraband, the prisoner attacked him.
A little later a drug believed to be Dilaudid was also found taped to the toilet, Cole explained.
Three sheriffs and three police officers were at the scene. One sheriff is off work with a shoulder injury.
Charges are pending.
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