A mentally ill inmate injured five prison guards during a vicious attack at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility earlier today, officials said.
The guards were in the process of locking inmates in their cells about 10:30 a.m. when they found Edward Braswell sitting in the wrong cell, said prison spokesman Bob Eskind.
“They tried to move him, but he refused,” he said.
An instant later, chaos filled the cell as Braswell launched into an attack.
He rained fists down on a female sergeant, three male corrections officers and one female officer, all of whom were unable to stop the onslaught, Eskind said.
The guards tried using pepper spray on Braswell, to no avail.
“Pepper spray doesn’t help with mental-health inmates. Nothing can stop them,” said Lorenzo North, the president of the prison guards’ union, Local 159.
Other guards rushed to the scene and eventually subdued Braswell, Eskind said.
When the dust settled, the five guards were all nursing injuries, some of them serious.
One male officer suffered a broken ankle and broken finger, and was being monitored overnight at Aria Health-Torresdale, Eskind said.
The female sergeant suffered head trauma, after Braswell slugged her in the face five times, grabbed her by the hair and slammed hear head into a cinder-block wall, North said.
Two male guards suffered hand and back injuries, while a female guard had some facial injuries, North said.
The incident was reported to Philadelphia police, who could file assault charges against Braswell.
Eskind said the inmate has a history of committing assaults at CFCF.