Two inmates with escape plans assaulted a corrections officer after persuading her to open a cell door to give them toilet paper, authorities say.
Sunday around 10:15 p.m., the Alaska Bureau of Investigation was notified a female officer had been attacked in the booking area of the Anchorage Jail. The two male inmates “lured a CO to open the cell door to give them toilet paper,” according to an online dispatch from Alaska State Troopers.
After receiving the toilet paper, the inmates rushed the door the officer was trying to close. They then struck the officer and put her in a chokehold, troopers said.
Other corrections officers responded and pried the inmates off the officer. One of the inmates tried to escape through an exit door but couldn’t open it. He then tried to hide in a shower room also located inside the jail’s booking area.
The two inmates were restrained and secured at the Anchorage Jail. The officer was treated for minor injuries at Providence Alaska Medical Center and released.
There have not been other recent cases of attempted escape similar to this one, said Sherrie Daigle with the Department of Corrections.
The DOC has identified the inmates as a 20-year-old booked for malicious destruction of property and an outstanding warrant and a 35-year-old booked for second-degree theft and an outstanding warrant. Both were brought into the facility this month, Daigle said.
Assault and attempted escape charges will be forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office, troopers said.