By Thadeus Greenson
The Times-Standard
EUREKA, Calif. — A skirmish in the Humboldt County Jail Sunday night left two correctional officers injured and an inmate facing four additional charges, including one of assault on a peace officer.
Humboldt County Sheriff spokeswoman Brenda Godsey said an argument broke out in one of the jail’s special needs units between Christopher Matzick and a fellow inmate.
Correctional officers responded after hearing yelling in the unit, Godsey said, and began the process of returning the inmates, who had been out in a common area, to their cells.
Godsey said Matzick was following instructions, but was clearly agitated when returning to his cell, which he shared with another inmate.
"(The officers) recognized that wasn’t a safe place for his cell mate, or maybe even for Mr. Matzick,” Godsey said, adding that the officers then tried to handcuff Matzick in order to move him to another part of the jail where he could calm down.
According to a press release, Matzick suddenly spun around and attacked the officers trying to handcuff him, hitting one in the face, and striking the other multiple times in the head.
One of the officers was able to draw his department issued Taser, and ordered Matzick to the ground.
“Matzick was uninjured,” Godsey said. “He complied as soon as he saw the Taser.”
The officers didn’t fare as well. According to the release, both were transported to a local hospital for treatment. Matzick left one with facial cuts and a loose tooth, and the other with injuries to the neck and back.
Matzick, a 23-year-old Fortuna resident, was initially taken into custody Nov. 20 on charges of battery and public intoxication. He will now face additional charges of assault with great bodily injury, assault on a peace officer, resist/obstructing a peace officer and resisting an executive officer. He is expected to be arraigned on these new charges Wednesday.
Godsey said the correctional officer who suffered neck and back injuries during the altercation is scheduled to see another doctor to check for possible neurological damage, and is expected to miss at least a week of work.
Copyright 2007 Eureka Times Standard