By Jacob Seibel
The Citizens’ Voice
NEWPORT TWP. — Three inmates at the State Correctional Institution at Retreat were arraigned in separate cases Tuesday for assaulting correctional officers.
Craig Donald Woodward, 44, Elijah Joiner, 35, and Walter Bump III, 26, were arraigned by District Judge Donald Whittaker on aggravated assault and related charges.
State police at Shickshinny filed the charges in all three cases. According to arrest papers:
• Woodward was attacking an inmate April 6 when a correctional officer stepped in to separate the two. Woodward punched the officer at least once in the face, causing the officer to fall and strike his head on a light switch, which broke on impact. Police said the officer suffered a concussion and needed a surgical staple to close the wound on his head.
• A correctional officer came to Joiner’s cell May 22 during his round. Joiner told the officer that he had missed his opportunity to go out to the dayroom. When the officer informed him he would be able to go there in about 45 minutes, Joiner spit in his face.
• A correctional officer was escorting Bump from the kitchen to the restricted housing unit April 29. Bump, whose hands were secured behind his back, was acting aggressively toward staff members. The officer was on Bump’s left when Bump head-butted the officer above his right eye.
Court records show Woodward is serving up to 10 years on assault charges out of Westmoreland County; Joiner has been jailed since 2004 on a drug conviction in Lycoming County and Bump is serving three to 12 months for resisting arrest and drug paraphernalia in Bradford County.