guard attack at Pendleton

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Another guard attacked at Pendleton prison

Jeffrey Treadway was convicted in a 2005 murder.

Guard Brandi Gilland was attacked earlier this month at the prison.

Pendleton - An employee at the Pendleton Correctional Facility was assaulted Monday morning.

Joseph Neill, a maintenance supervisor at the prison, was assaulted by an offender with a weapon around 10 a.m., according to superintendent Brett Mize. Neill sustained approximately ten puncture wounds to his leg and lower body, though none of the injuries were life-threatening or serious. He was treated and released from St. John's Hospital in Anderson before returning to the facility following treatment.

The alleged attacker was identified as Jeffrey Treadway, 49, who is serving a life sentence without parole on a murder charge out of Marion County. He is also serving sentences for other charges for robbery and battery. He was found guilty of the assault on Neill by the Facility Disciplinary Hearing Body and is being transferred to another facility.

Treadway was convicted of attacking and killing 82-year-old Donald Carroll in 2005. Prosecutors say Treadway beat Carroll with a brick in his east side home. They say he also stole money from the World War II veteran and attacked his wife, who survived.

Officials say the prison will be working with the Indiana State Police and the Madison County Prosecutor's Office to pursue criminal charges against Treadway for a prisoner in possession of a dangerous device or material and battery with bodily injury - both felonies.

The motive for the attack appears to have been retaliation against Neill, who had recently filed a disciplinary report on Treadway.

Prison guard Brandi Gilland was also attacked and beaten by an inmate at the prison on December 17.

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Prison superintendent talks safety after guard beating

Pendleton - As prison workers clamor for more help after a guard in Pendleton was beaten on the job, the prison's superintendent is talking about safety inside the prison's walls.

New pictures showed the injuries 30-year-old guard Brandi Gilland suffered when she was beaten on the job at the maximum security prison in Pendleton.

An industrial horn signals a day's work done for inmates inside the prison. But watching over Indiana's worst offenders, is a job that's never done and downright dangerous.

Gilland has the black eye and split lip to prove it.

"I wish I could say that it's never going to happen, but just by where we work, there's always that possibility," said Pendleton Superintendent Brett Mize, speaking of the potential for violence against prison guards.

Gilland was alone and checking individual cells Sunday, December 17, when prison authorities say inmate Rico Comer attacked her. Gilland had seized an unauthorized MP3 player from Comer weeks ago, causing him to lose visiting privileges.

"He took revenge on her for that conduct report," Mize told Eyewitness News. "When the incident happened, Officer Gilland handled the situation on her own, when she pulled out her chemical agent, used appropriate force and the situation was taken care of before staff got there to assist."

But she and other guards now say new prison policy that requires them to check individual cells alone puts them at risk.

In an email to 13 Investigates, one guard wrote, "Administration was warned repeatedly by C/O's that this would get an officer killed."

The superintendent says there have been a total of three guard assaults since April in the Disciplinary Segregation Unit.

"That's the worst of worst offenders inside this maximum security prison," Mize added.

A total of 20 officers were assaulted the entire year, compared to 82 in 2007.

But that is of little comfort to Officer Gilland, who said Department of Correction policies are limiting what she can say about the ordeal.

"I'm sorry, I can't talk right now about any incident that happened at the prison," said the guard, who still has bruises under her left eye.

The superintendent, who took over in April, denies the attack on Gilland was the result of weak security.

"I think the number of assaults that decreased from last year to this year speaks for itself," said Mize. "So again, I think we have a good handle on what we're trying to do here with security procedures and everything we've implemented is working."

Facility numbers show there were ten fewer correction officers this year compared to 2007. The superintendent plans to hire 11 guards by mid-January. He also believes increasing job responsibilities for inmates and making it easier for them to get into G.E.D. programs will make a difference in keeping assaults at bay.

It's unclear if Gilland will return to work on Tuesday as scheduled. She has been reassigned to a non-inmate unit for now and indicated days ago that she is seeking possible lawsuit against the state.

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Pendleton administrators defend new policy

Pendleton - There are renewed concerns over staff safety at an Indiana prison as more reports of violent attacks filter out.

The latest victim is a maintenance worker at the Pendleton Correctional Facility stabbed in an open courtyard Monday morning. It's the second assault at the maximum security facility in two weeks.

13 Investigates the violence and fallout over efforts to keep it quiet.

"It is an isolated incident." That's how Brett Mize, the superintendent at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, characterized the beating of a 30-year-old female prison guard. But what exactly did he mean?

The December 17th attack took place inside a unit where some of the worst inmates are jailed.
Mize says inmate Rico Comer retaliated against the guard for writing him up.

But just three hours before the superintendent sat down to talk safety with 13 Investigates, he was investigating the stabbing of his maintenance supervisor in the prison yard.

The worker suffered ten puncture wounds to his leg and lower body from a shank. The offender is a 49-year-old "lifer" from Marion County.

Yet Mize failed to disclose that information during the interview or as our cameras ventured into the yard.

But he offered reassurances. "The main thing that we want to do is to make sure that every staff member here is safe. And when they went home at the end of the day, they could go home with no injuries or anything like that," he said.

Armed with inside tips, 13 Investigates prompted the release of the stabbing details and this statement from the prison's public information officer:

"There was no attempt to withhold information. We were still involved in an on-going investigation of the incident. The injuries were not significant. The worker actually returned to the facility."

The offender, 49-year-old Jeffrey Treadway, was convicted in the October 2005 robbery and beating death of an 82-year-old Indianapolis dance instructor.

Insiders tell Eyewitness News Treadway has a history of troublesome conduct and should have never been out. But prison officials say yard officers are on the grounds to monitor inmates. They defend a policy change that now requires a lone security guard to shake down inmates in their cells. There's no longer another guard serving as back up in the control room.

But Mize doesn't see that as a problem. "We have cameras that watch both sides of the units at all times that monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he explained.

But tipsters say it took nearly 15 minutes for help to arrive for guard Brandi Gilland. She was able to mace the inmate and flee to safety.

The stabbing of the maintenance worker remains under investigation.

Both inmates involved in the attacks have been transferred out of the facility.

The maintenance worker was treated at an Anderson hospital and returned to work. Guard Brandi Gilland is scheduled to report to a non-inmate unit Tuesday night.

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Gilland says Brandi was attacked by 29-year-old inmate, Rico Comer on December 17th. Gilland says Comer was mad at his daughter for taking away his mp3 player several weeks ago. Inmates are not allowed to have electronic devices. Gilland says Comer was the last inmate his daughter was locking up when he approached her and started punching her. Gilland says there used to be another guard working with his daughter but not anymore.
"She says the prison is understaffed," said Gilland. That's one reason why Gilland feels his daughter was so vulnerable to the attack. "She is the only one to watch over 48 inmates, now it's only her because she says they're trying to save money."
"She goes inside that block by herself with one key and all doors locked behind her," said Gilland.
The night brandi was attacked Gilland says the second key was in a desk and was inaccessible.
"And as she was beaten there were other security guards coming to the door looking in on her but they couldn't get in because they don't have a key," said Gilland.
Pendleton Prison Superintendent Brett Mize would not speak with Fox59 or comment on the allegations. Indiana Department of Corrections officials said Mize had given two interviews Monday and refused to do any more.
"I think it's pretty low down that the State of Indiana won't talk, and I think they should be open about the whole thing," said Gilland.
A source says the key policy at Pendleton has now been changed.