Inmate charged with pepper spraying detention officers over a second tray of food
CANADIAN COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – A Canadian County inmate is facing new charges for allegedly attacking three detention officers with pepper spray after he wasn’t satisfied with how much food he was served.
“We can’t have that happen,” said Sheriff Chris West.
Sheriff West told News 4 the incident with inmate, Damon Dunbar, happened in October 2022, but charges were just filed over the summer. The 38-year-old was in Canadian County’s custody on a writ from the Department of Corrections.
“Dunbar wasn’t happy wasn’t happy with the quantity of food he was getting and he wanted another tray,” said West.
Court documents said Dunbar took the tray and “shoved it into the upper body of” an officer, grabbed his pepper spray, then sprayed him and two other officers.
Sheriff West said when the officers backed out, Dunbar and another inmate got ready for an all-out fight while back up arrived.
Sheriff West said they were in there for about two hours.
“They had almost tried to barricade the door with the mattresses. They had taken food and spread it all over the floor to make it to make the floor slippery,” said Sheriff West. “They were shielding themselves with mattresses and still had the cans of OC.”
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Sheriff West said the tactical team was called in to use less-lethal methods to get everything under control.
The sheriff said this is an example of why being a correctional officer is difficult. There’s also a shortage nationwide. That’s why the Canadian County jail, along with numerous jails across the state, are always hiring more staff.
News 4 received an anonymous letter that said over the past several months, around 30 CO’s had left or were terminated. Sheriff West said he has a high standard for detention officers.
“Oh, it could be more than that,” said the sheriff. “If we get somebody who’s violating state laws or policies we’re not going to keep them.”
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