Lake Andes arson suspect charged with assault of a law enforcement officer

Jan. 27—LAKE ANDES — A Lake Andes man accused of burning down the town's Native American Resource Center is now facing additional charges after allegedly assaulting a corrections officer inside the Charles Mix County Jail.

Donavon Sully, 27, of Lake Andes, is facing one count of assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of assault by an adult in jail after he allegedly berated, spit on and tossed a cup of water at a jailer.

An arrest affidavit says that on the evening of Jan. 15, corrections officers confronted Sully in his cell after Sully had covered a surveillance camera. The officers allege that as soon as the cell door was open, Sully began spitting and threw a cup of water onto one of their faces.

Jailers instructed Sully to face the wall and place his hands behind his back, but say Sully had a piece of cement in his hands and was threatening to harm himself. He was eventually placed into cuffs and secured into a restraint chair.

As Sully was being restrained, he allegedly began threatening the jailers, yelling phrases including "I'm gonna kill you James," "he's a dead man, gonna make sure he's dead" and "I'm gonna bite your ear off."

Sully remained in the restraint chair for approximately two hours.

For the incident in the jail, Sully faces two Class 6 felonies, punishable by up to four years in prison and an $8,000 fine.

In his other open case — regarding the fire at the Native American Resource Center and multiple other locations in Lake Andes — he faces 37 years in prison, a $74,000 fine or both

Sully's criminal record includes eight criminal entries prior to the fire at the resource center, all of which resulted in convictions. One of his convictions included a charge of assault by an adult confined in jail.

His next court appearance is set for Feb. 28 at the Charles Mix County Courthouse.