By C1 Staff
TRENTON, NJ — A New Jersey corrections officer who was attacked by an inmate over the weekend will be hospitalized for two weeks to undergo therapy to regain motor coordination after the attack left her with brain trauma.
According to NJ.com, the officer’s union, Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 105, Corrections Officer Eligia Then was letting inmates out of their cells to shower on Saturday when she was attacked by a male inmate.
Her partner was working on another floor at the time of the attack.
As Then tried to fight off her attacker, someone pulled the riot alarm and more officers were summoned to the unit. It’s not clear at this time if it was another inmate or someone else.
Then was taken to the hospital and treated for physical injuries initially, but as her cognitive skills began to deterioriate it was clear something else was wrong.
“She had some kind of bleeding in her brain,” said Lance Lopez Sr., president of the union.
An investigation into the attack is ongoing, and the name of the inmate suspected of attacking Then has not been released. He has been transferred out of the prison in accordance with standard procedures.