A Warren County Jail inmate with a history of violence faces felony charges after he attacked a guard while the officer was trying to tend to a prisoner who was having a seizure.
The inmate, James Lorance Cairy, 50, is charged with aggravated assault for attacking corrections officer Kolton Gardner inside Warren County Jail. Cairy is serving the remainder of a four-year sentence for violating his probation for an earlier conviction on the charge of aggravated assault. He was directed to get mental health treatment as part of that earlier sentence for felony assault which came back in 2014.
The incident which has Cairy looking at another lengthy sentence happened as officer Gardner was rushing to help another inmate who was having a seizure in the medical wing hallway of the jail. The inmate was lying on the floor when he and three other officers arrived. There were other inmates, including Cairy, standing around the downed prisoner. They were all told to return to their cells. They refused.
“It was at that time Mr. Cairy hit the officer with his closed fist on the right side of his face,” the warrant reads. “He then grabbed the officer and placed him in a choke hold and tried to throw him to the ground.”
The other officers were able to pull Cairy off their fellow guard and place him in restraints. It was not revealed what prompted Cairy’s violent reaction. Aggravated assault carries three to six years in prison.