By Bill Wellock
The Citizens’ Voice
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — In the hands of an inmate at State Correctional Institution at Dallas, a combination lock attached to a laundry strap became a weapon.
According to a report of a Jan. 20 incident at the prison, inmate Michael Rivera hooked a lock to a laundry strap and used it to attack a correctional officer at the facility.
According to the report:
At 3:04 p.m., Rivera hit an officer, identified in the report as Robert Lewis, in the face and head with a lock. Lewis was able to radio for help, and a minute later Rivera was on the ground as another officer restrained him.
Lewis went to the prison infirmary, where staff cleaned and bandaged his wounds, the report said. Thirty minutes after the attack, he was headed to the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital emergency room. A surgeon prepared to treat him for a fractured right orbital eye socket, the report said.
Rivera went to the prison infirmary for treatment, including stitches on his left eyebrow, then was sent to confined housing pending the results of a hearing, the report said. State police are investigating the incident and are waiting to see the extent of the officer’s injuries before filing charges.
Rivera, 37, is in prison until at least January 2031 on a charge of third-degree murder, the report said.