HURRICANE, Utah, April 3, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — An inmate at Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility has been charged with assault after he allegedly attacked a guard.
Orlando Simpson, 33, faces a third-degree felony charge in the April 1 incident.
The guard was doing an hourly cell check, and Simpson was participating in a “time out of cell” period, talking on a phone, the guard wrote in a probable cause statement.
The guard wrote that as he passed Simpson the inmate called his name.
“Inmate Simpson hung up the phone and looked towards the section door to see if an additional deputy was entering the section. As the door secured, inmate Simpson lunged towards me and struck me twice in the head, hitting me on the right side of my face,” the guard wrote.
“I attempted to push inmate Simpson away to create distance, however he continued to advance and inmate Simpson struck me twice in the head a second time, hitting the right and left side of my face,” the guard’s statement said.
A second deputy saw what was happening and took Simpson to the ground, the statement says. Two more deputies then arrived and radioed for additional help.
Simpson still had his arm around the guard’s neck until the guard “administered multiple distraction strikes” to Simpson’s face.
Simpson released the guard but began to resist yet again, the statement says.
He was ultimately brought under control, handcuffed, and a spit hood was placed over his head, the statement says.
Simpson remains in custody, now with the additional charge.
