An Oklahoma inmate attacked a detention officer who was "just going in to pick up a tray," from a cell, biting off pieces of his ears, KFOR reported.
According to the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office, Benjamin Malcolm Buford, 22, assaulted the detention officer Saturday while the officer was removing food trays from inmates' cells, KOCO reported.
"The detention officer was just going in to pick up a tray when out of nowhere the inmate jumped on him and just started hitting and kicking him, knocking him to the ground," Mark Opgrande of the Sheriff's Office told KFOR.
Buford is in the county jail awaiting trial on a sexual battery charge after he was arrested Aug. 8, the television station reported. He now faces additional charges of aggravated assault and battery on an officer and maiming by disfigurement.
According to Opgrande, the officer crawled from the cell to the corridor and Buford chased him, kicking and punching him in the face, KFOR reported.
“He also bit pieces off of both of his ears and, at one point, was trying to gouge out one of his eyes,” Opgrande told the television station. "He was fighting for his life at that moment. It happened so fast the officer didn’t even have time to call in on his radio for help. Thankfully, they were, of course, monitoring on our surveillance system. They called for backup, and detention officers arrived and were able to take that inmate into custody."
The officer, who has not been identified, was covered in blood, KOCO reported. He was taken to a hospital and released Sunday.
Detention center officials turned over surveillance video to the district attorney’s office, the television station reported.
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