By C1 Staff
ELYRIA, Ohio — A 17-year veteran of the Lorain County Jail was hospitalized and then released after being beaten by an inmate, after the officer told him to put on a pair of pants.
The Chronicle-Telegram reports that Correctional Officer Eric Elliott was attached by inmate Bronald Strange after Elliott told Strange to get dressed.
Another inmate wrote in a witness statement that Strange was the aggressor.
“Big guy came out of the bubble with a blanket wrapped around him. The guard told him he had to put the blanket back and the big guy punched the guard, then started choking the guard around the neck,” the inmate wrote. “If you guys wouldn’t have come I think that big guy would have killed that guard.”
Surveillance video doesn’t show much of the incident other than more officers rushing to Elliott’s aid.
A jail nurse present at the incident said she tried to get Strange to get off of the officer, but then removed herself from the situation once other officers arrived.
Strange was placed in a restraint chair and treated for minor injuries, while Elliott was hospitalized. He has since been released.
Strange has been charged with a felony count of assault; he has previously been convicted of sex and drug crimes, as well as offenses of violence.