Noah Feit
The State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — An officer at a prison in Columbia was fired after she was arrested for her role in an attack on an inmate, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said Monday.
Alicia Nicole Smith was a sergeant at Broad River Correctional Institution when she allowed inmates to assault another prisoner, the Department of Corrections said in a news release.
Arrest warrants show the incident happened Nov. 10 at the prison on Broad River Road, near the junction with Interstate 20. It is a male-only high-security facility “designed primarily to house violent offenders with longer sentences, and inmates who exhibit behavioral problems,” according to the Department of Corrections.
Video showed the 37-year-old Columbia woman opened an inmate’s cell door, allowing other prisoners to enter the cell and assault him, according to arrest warrants.
After being attacked by 11 inmates, the man suffered injuries including a black eye and a sore mouth, in addition to soreness to the right shoulder, right leg and right foot, arrest warrants show.
Smith was charged with accessory before the act of a felony (assault and battery by a mob), and misconduct in office, the Department of Corrections said.
After she was arrested, Smith was fired, according to the news release.
The incident remains under investigation.