Published: November 05, 2009 02:08 pm      

Prison guards complain about violence, inmate attacks

VALDOSTA — William Bond was standing outside the dining area at Valdosta State Prison on a warm day in August 2007 when a group of inmates circled and attacked. The corrections officer was besieged by men wielding broom handles, belt buckles and shanks. He was hit and stabbed at least seven times.

The attack lasted several minutes, which seemed like hours to the second shift sergeant, until two officers working in the dining area noticed what was happening and rushed to his aid.

“I believe that I would have died," Bond said, "if they did not come when they did.”

Bond's rescuers were not spared. They were attacked, too, as they broke into the circle of inmates. All three officers needed medical treatment.

Bond's injuries, including the complete loss of sight in his right eye, left him unable to work.

Recent reports of such violence have precipitated an outcry among past and present corrections officers who complain inmates at the prison are are out of control.

In the most recent attack, on Oct. 25, at least three inmates brutally assaulted Zebedee Hankerson. The 19-year-old officer was doing a routine inmate count in the prison's Building D1 when one pushed and elbowed him, causing an orbital fracture in his eye, according to the officer's father, Ron Hankerson.

That inmate and two others assaulted the officer, whose injuries require facial surgery.

“Meanwhile, another officer who was aware of the attack did not respond or try to assist my son,” said Ron Hankerson. “In fact, it took at least two minutes before anyone responded. My son left the building with blood on his face and no support from any of the other officers.”

More than an hour passed before the officer was taken to a hospital, according to his father, and he was taken in a state vehicle, not an ambulance.

The Georgia Department of Corrections has not confirmed the attack. But several corrections officers, who fear speaking publicly will endanger their jobs, have confirmed the account by Hankerson's father.

Valdosta State Prison houses 1,300 male inmates under close security, the designation between medium and maximum. It was built in 1989, according to the Department of Corrections.

One in six inmates is serving a life sentence. Another 51 are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.

The prison's Inmate count includes 199 convicted of murder and 62 convicted of rape, according to a recent census. Seven have been convicted of aggravated assault on a peace officer, while two are guilty of aggravated battery on a police officer.

While current guards are reluctant to speak publicly, former officers are more than willing to talk about what happens inside the prison's walls.

William Lewis was attacked twice, in July 2005 and again a year later, in June 2006. The inmate involved in the latter attack had written a letter threatening to kill Lewis and three other prison employees, the former corrections officer said. That inmate had just been released from solitary confinement when the attack occurred.

“I was actually reprimanded because I got mad when I found out about the letter,” Lewis said. “I realized then that the inmates ran that prison.”

Lewis' spinal injuries forced him to quit working. He has been out of work since February 2007.

More recent incidents include assaults, not just on guards but on inmates, too.

Inmate Ronnie Hodge was stabbed during an altercation Oct. 24, according to a Department of Corrections statement. He was taken to a hospital for “puncture wounds to his left shoulder and upper back."

The statement did not identify the other person involved in the attack.

On the Saturday of Halloween, a fight between two inmates led to one being thrown from a second-floor balcony. He was taken to the hospital for observation and later returned to the prison. The Department of Corrections has not confirmed or released information about the incident.

The Valdosta Daily Times is seeking records from the Department of Corrections related to conditions at the prison and attacks on Bond and Lewis. The newspaper is seeking the documents under the state's Open Records law. The department has said its legal office is considering the request.



Malynda Fulton writes for The Valdosta Daily Times.