Inmate attacks officer in escape try

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A Kent County corrections officer is recovering from a brutal beating at the hands of an inmate trying to escape the jail. Not only did he not escape, but other inmates came to the guard's defense.

Sheriff Lawrence Stelma said the corrections officer was bruised and traumatized after the beating, which lasted about 10 minutes.

The officer was alone in the pod, a layered security area holding between 40 and 60 inmates. Only one guard is assigned to the area at night because inmates are supposed to be locked in their cells.

The inmate suspected in this attack, Willie Lee Wilson Williams, asked for toilet paper. When a trustee delivered the paper, Williams managed to slip out of his cell.

He jumped the guard as she made her rounds, knocking her and her radio to the ground. They tumbled into a control area, and he continued to pummel the guard.

"His focus was not on injuring her," said Stelma. "She stood between him and escape."

Buttons, which released cell doors, were hit and other inmates could walk out. But they came to the aid of the guard. One inmate grabbed the radio and called for help.

"They came to her rescue," said the sheriff.

None of the other guards in the jail knew what was happening for as long as 10 minutes.

Stelma said two guards monitor those pods from a centralized station in the jail. There are as many as 50 monitors switching back-and-forth between over 100 cameras.

When asked if he was concerned that someone wasn't watching that lone guard, Stelma said the "jail is full of violent people, dangerous people. And some of the violent, dangerous people are certainly more aggressive and more disturbed. They're more, they're going to take chances. ... They're going to do what they can to get away."

It does not appear, he said, that any of the other inmates released during the assault had any intention of escaping.

Stelma said Williams would have had to go through several more layers of security to actually escape the jail -- so in that sense, the system worked.

24 Hour News Eight asked the sheriff if one guard for 40 to 60 inmates, with a radio and a few cameras to protect her, is adequate.

"They're always going to be somebody that's going to try and challenge the system," Stelma said.

Still, sheriff's officials are reviewing the incident.

"Certainly changes could happen. We want to continually evaluate the policies and book and that's designed to minimize desperate behavior.. desperate actions if inmates like this," said Stelma.

Two officers -- the one attacked and a responding officer -- were treated and released from an area hospital.

Williams has been in jail since July 27 and is charged with three counts of armed robbery. He's accused of robbing three gas stations the day before, and was arrested after a two-hour standoff.

While Williams been charged with some serious crimes, the sheriff says none of were violent, so he qualified a medium-security placement. But Friday, Williams was moved to a higher-security area of the jail.

He now will face multiple felony charges and is being held without bond.