Assault involving inmate, staff reported at Mitchellville prison

DES MOINES – For the second time in less than a week, Iowa Department of Corrections officials Monday reported an assault on correctional officers at a state prison.

Department spokesman Fred Scaletta said two correctional officers at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women at Mitchellville were kicked and punched by an inmate on Sunday shortly before 7 p.m.

Two officers responding to a cell check of ICIW inmate Andrea Nicole Paterson discovered that Paterson had the cell window covered with toilet paper and would not respond to verbal commands. The officers opened the door of the cell in a high-security unit and found Paterson sitting on the floor covered with a blanket, according to Scaletta.

Upon removing the blanket, Paterson assaulted both officers with kicks and punches, Scaletta said. The two officers were assaulted in the chest and rib areas, while a third responding officer was spat upon in the face and chest.

Paterson, 22, was restrained after additional response staff arrived, he said. The two officers who were physically assaulted were transported to a Des Moines hospital for treatment and later released. Scaletta said the injuries were not considered critical or life threatening. Also, the officer who was spat upon was treated and decontaminated at the institution health services unit.

The incident remains under investigation by the department, which will refer its finding to the state Division of Criminal Investigation and to the Polk County attorney's office for possible prosecution.

Paterson began in June 2007 serving an 11-year sentence from Johnson County for second-degree arson, reckless use of fire/explosives, and animal neglect.

On Saturday, corrections officials reported that the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility was under lockdown status following the assaults on three correctional officers by two inmates that occurred Friday night.

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