By C1 Staff
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Four corrections officers were injured after a mentally ill inmate attacked them.
Sheriff Daron Hall told WKRN that two officers were escorting medical personnel to an inmate’s cell for a wellness check Monday.
The handcuffed inmate struck an officer in the nose, breaking it. After punching another deputy and biting two others, the inmate was restrained by five officers. Overall, one officer suffered a broken ankle, another suffered a broken nose and two others were left with scratches and bite marks.
One of the officers is still hospitalized and recovering from surgery. Another requires surgery and two others have been released.
Hall said the inmate should have initially been placed in a medical facility - not a prison.
“He’s lost in the system called criminal justice when truthfully he’s ill,” he said. “You would never lose a person with cancer to the jail or lose a person with a heartache to jail, but society put people who are mentally ill in a jail setting.”
The department said no additional charges will be filed against the inmate because they understand he is mentally ill.