Inmate Attacks Guards, Leaving 2 Hospitalized

An inmate with a history of prison violence attacked two guards Wednesday at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, leaving both hospitalized with cuts.

Department of Correction spokesman Mark Carnopis said it was unclear what weapon was used in the attack.

Benjamin Martin Hatton, 20, a Florida native serving five to 15 years for a 1996 robbery conviction in Ada County, was placed in isolation after allegedly attacking the men shortly after 1:30 p.m. in A Block’s day room, an open area outside the tier of cells.

Carnopis said Hatton was involved in a riot at the Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino in the summer of 1997 that resulted in an additional five-year concurrent prison sentence. Another concurrent five- to 12-year sentence was added for each of two counts of aggravated battery after Hatton attacked another guard in 1998, Carnopis said.

All 605 inmates at the prison south of Boise were locked in their cells while the investigation continued.