By Karen Bota
Ionia Sentinel-Standard, Mich.
EASTON TOWNSHIP, mich. — A prisoner at Ionia Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility threw feces on two corrections officers last week, drenching one of them to his shoulders, the Michigan Corrections Organization said Thursday, Feb. 22.
The corrections officers were preparing to escort a segregation prisoner back to his cell after a shower. When they approached him in the shower area, he threw a container with feces and water onto the officers. One officer’s head was soaked and the other had some fluid on his upper body.
The inmate received two assault tickets and was transferred to another facility, according to the MCO. Officers said they thought he may have been upset about a sexual misconduct he received the day before from another officer.
Photos were taken for evidence, and the prisoner could possibly be prosecuted.
“Unfortunately sometimes this does happen, but the good thing is that two years ago we partnered with the MCO, working hand in hand with local prosecutors as well as the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan to address this ‘dressing out,’” said Chris Gautz, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Corrections. “This is something we take very seriously.”
It used to be that prisoners throwing bodily fluids on corrections officers was considered just part of the job, but that is no longer the case, Gautz said. Prison officials gather all the evidence they can so the Michigan State Police can do an investigation and a report, which is given to the prosecutor, who is encouraged to prosecute the prisoner who does this.
“We want to make a showing to the staff that we stand up for them, and we want to make sure this happens infrequently because the prisoner knows they will get additional time on their sentence for doing something so disgusting,” Gautz said.
In this case both staff members went to a local clinic for treatment, and neither missed any work, said Gautz. “Both are doing fine.”
The prisoner was transferred to a maximum security level facility, and the case has been referred to the Ionia County Prosecutor’s Office he added.
©2018 Ionia Sentinel-Standard, Mich.