Two Oakdale corrections officers assaulted

Department of Corrections officers were assaulted in two incidents at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Oakdale, Sunday, November 15.

According to a statement from the Department of Corrections, the first assault occurred when an inmate, Earl Griffin, 22, attacked a guard while facility staff were distributing medicine at around 3:15 p.m. Griffin punched the guard repeatedly in the shoulder and face, causing serious but non-life threatening injuries, before ten guards responded and subdued Griffin.

DOC spokesman Fred Scaletta said that the officer acted commendably instructed the female nurses in the room to evacuate once the attack began.

Shortly after the incident, another guard was attacked by another inmate, Damion Seats, 18. Seats punched the guard twice in the facial area before the guard was able to subdue him.

Griffin is facing a 55-year sentence for second degree kidnapping, burglary and theft from Des Moines County. Seats is serving a life-sentence for first degree murder and burglary in Cerro Gordo County. Both inmates were transferred to the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison.