Mark Pesto
The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
SOMERSET, Pa. — A state prison inmate attacked two corrections officers at SCI-Somerset in separate incidents on consecutive days in March, punching one in the face and throwing urine and feces at the other, state police allege.
Warren Deron Easley, 32, now faces charges of aggravated harassment by a prisoner, simple assault and harassment, court documents indicate.
In the first incident, which allegedly happened at around 7:30 p.m. March 10, Easley punched a corrections officer who had ordered him to tuck in his shirt and produce his identification card, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by a state trooper. The officer’s nose was allegedly broken by the punch.
After throwing the punch, Easley “took off running” and was restrained by several officers, according to the affidavit.
He then “became very agitated and uncooperative with staff members” and started “spitting all over the place,” the trooper wrote in the affidavit.
SCI-Somerset was locked down for more than 24 hours after the alleged assault. It was the prison’s second lockdown after an alleged inmate-on-employee assault in 2019. Inmate Johnny Lee Alexander has been charged with aggravated assault in connection with the first incident, which allegedly happened on Feb. 10.
At around 10:30 a.m. March 11, while the prison was still locked down, Easley allegedly threw “a mixture of feces and urine” through an aperture in the door of his cell in the Restricted Housing Unit onto a corrections officer who had brought him a meal, according to the affidavit.
Easley’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 25 before District Judge Sandra L. Stevanus, of New Centerville. He is currently being held at SCI-Forest in Marienville, Forest County.
Mark Pesto is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter at @MarkPesto.
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