Geiger inmate attacked while on toilet

An inmate at Geiger Corrections Center is accused of trying to strangle another inmate as she used a toilet late Wednesday.

A witness told corrections deputies the victim looked like “a deer in headlights” when Maria C. Schlienger, 23, attacked her with a pink, torn-up rag as the victim sat on a toilet in a bathroom stall at Geiger, 3507 S. Spotted Road, according to court documents.

Geiger, which is slated to close , is a minimum-security facility that houses overflow inmates from the Spokane County Jail.

The witness said Schlienger wrapped the rag around the woman’s neck until she intervened. The 26-year-old victim, who is serving time for a drunken driving conviction, briefly lost consciousness, officials say.

A sheriff’s deputy responded to the jail and noticed a faint red mark on the victim’s neck. The rag was recovered from the bathroom floor.

Schlienger was transported to the jail on a second-degree assault charge.