Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Four Inmates Charged With Disturbance

A disturbance inside the Nevada County jail earlier this month has led to four inmates being charged with battery in the third degree engaging in a violent criminal group.

The four inmates are: Fred Fricks, Tony Box, Rodney Ross and LaMarcus Harris.

On May 10, jailer Patricia Franklin was upstairs checking on the inmates when Jason Watson asked her to call his folks to bring him some cigarettes. She noticed his eyes were dark underneath and asked what was wrong.

Watson wouldn't talk about it, even though Franklin kept asking. He did relent and agree to tell her later.

Franklin finished her check, went downstairs and called for Watson to come down, where she again asked what had happened.

According to court records, Watson said he and Jonathan Woods had been beaten up, their food plates and personal items taken by Fricks, Box, Ross and Harris.

When questioned about why it wasn't reported, he said he didn't want to get any trouble started.

Nevada County Sheriff Steve Otwell and head jailer Carroll Pruitt investigated the incident, starting with inmate Perry Townsend.

Townsend said Watson and Woods were jumped on for having cutting tools under their bed.

Woods was next on the list for questioning. He said he and Watson had returned upstairs after visitation and put things their families had brought away.

Watson was sitting on the bunk, he said, with Woods being on the toilet when Harris ran in and struck Woods, knocking him onto the bed.

The others joined in, kicking and punching the two, then stopped and started pulling things from under the bed.

Woods and Watson, after the quartet had finished, began putting the stuff back in a box when one of the others found a piece of broken plastic, according to records.

Fricks began hitting Watson in the head, with both Woods and Watson moving to a corner of the cell.

They were told to keep quiet as a jailer was coming up, but Woods began calling out. Fricks, Box, Harris and Ross also began yelling to cover Woods's screaming.

Once the jailer left, Ross jumped on Woods's head, and the four began beating and kicking him, telling him they would do this any time they wanted.

The investigation, the report stated, included an Act 309 inmate, Tony Cooley. He told the sheriff he had gone to talk about a TV with some inmates, and the cell Woods was in was noisy when he got there.

Cooley reportedly asked Woods about the TV, but Harris hit Woods in the head before he could answer. Cooley also said Watson was on the floor and looked scared.

Cooley went downstairs and told the jailer on duty he needed to let Woods out to call his attorney and the jailer went upstairs with another 309 inmate, Mike Gulley.

Gulley said he heard the commotion on the misdemeanor side, but thought it was horseplay.

Following the investigation, Harris, Box, Fricks and Ross were all charged with third degree battery.

This is a class D felony carrying a sentence up to six years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.