3 officers hurt in inmate's escape attempt from Montgomery County Jail

Published: Dec. 11, 2018 at 9:04 PM CST
Email This Link
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn

Three corrections officers suffered minor injuries and an inmate faces multiple charges following his escape attempt from the Montgomery County Jail.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office says the inmate, 40-year-old Curtis Lee Harris, from Chanute, assaulted corrections officers in the escape attempt reported early Monday morning.

The sheriff's office says Harris used force to gain control of a Taser from one officer.

"The corrections officer acted quickly, deploying pepper spray and radioing for backup," the sheriff's office says.

When that backup arrived, Harris deployed the Taser, striking a second officer, the sheriff's office says.

"Moments later, a third corrections officer arrived and deployed his Taser, striking Harris, causing Harris to fall to the floor," the sheriff's office says.

The fight wasn't over.

"Once Harris was on the ground, corrections officers attempted to gain control of (him), but Harris was still in the possession of the Taser. Using the Taser, Harris delivered shocks to the corrections officers multiple times during the scuffle," the sheriff's office says. "After losing control of the Taser, Harris was able to eventually get to his feet and retreated to his cell and the door to the cell was closed."

The sheriff's office says during the four-minute struggle, Harris tried to get keys in the attempt to escape and made threats against all three corrections officers involved.

"The corrections officers acted quickly to try and gain control of the situation," Montgomery County Sheriff Robert Dierks says. "Their quick action and bravery when presented with an armed suspect prevented a dangerous person from escaping into the community."

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office says Harris faces multiple counts of attempted aggravated escape from custody, aggravated assault and criminal threat against a law enforcement officer.