MIDDLETON, Mass. -- Middleton Jail guards were able to successfully negotiate the safe release of an inmate who was held hostage by another prisoner for about an hour on Tuesday, according to Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins.
"The response team, (the) captain in charge of the unit, took about an hour to talk him down and to have him come out of his cell," Cousins said. "Our staff did a great job."
The incident occurred around 1 p.m. in the segregation unit, which is a section of the jail where prisoners have few privileges and receive extra scrutiny, Cousins said. The victim was held with a shank that the attacker manufactured from a pair of glasses.
When Cousins was reached by The Salem News yesterday, he said he was not in an area where he could verify the identity of the inmate who is now facing felony charges of assault and battery and holding someone against his will.
The jail's hostage negotiator was able to talk the inmate down peacefully, preventing injury to any officer or inmate, according to Cousins.
"The nice thing about this situation, Rick Smith, the hostage negotiator, didn't have to use force to get him out of the cell," Cousins said. "Calmer heads prevailed."
The offending inmate had been sent to Middleton by the Norfolk County Jail.
"Basically, he was looking for a little attention. He was unhappy that he was sent up here because he couldn't get along with the people in Norfolk," Cousins said.
Cousins praised the work of Smith, Unit Manager Capt. Robert Walsh and Sgt. Michael Roach for their successful efforts to resolve the situation.
Copyright 2012 - The Salem News, Beverly, Mass.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
