By Maki Becker
The Buffalo News
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Buffalo man awaiting trial on assault and sexual abuse charges is accused of assaulting a deputy at the Erie County Holding Center, allegedly leaving him unconscious, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.
Bilal Wright, 44, was charged with a felony count of assault while confined in a correctional facility and a misdemeanor count of obstruction of governmental administration. He was already being held without bail following his arrest in August related to a March 2022 incident.
Sheriff’s officials said that on Jan. 27, deputies at the Holding Center downtown were conducting “a security operation in a housing area.” When they came to Wright’s unit, they told him to stand up and face the wall, but Wright allegedly refused. When deputies entered the unit Wright allegedly punched a deputy in the face and knocked him unconscious. The deputy, identified only by his last name, Mallia, hit his head on the wall and his face on a metal bunk, officials said.
Other deputies responded and restrained Wright, who officials said resisted. He was secured “with metal restraints but remained combative and kicked the responding deputies.”
Mallia was taken to Erie County Medical center for treatment of head and face injuries. Officials said he regained consciousness on his way to the hospital.
Wright was also taken to ECMC for “additional evaluation and treatment.”
Wright was arrested in March for allegedly attacking a counselor at Spectrum Health and Human Services, a human services center on Main Street, and sexually abusing a woman who works at the same facility. In April, Wright was accused of punching a jail deputy in the face through the bars of his cell. He was also accused of throwing excrement on the deputies and himself. He was charged with second-degree assault in that case.
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