‘Poop bomb’ lands inmate in state cell

WEST CHESTER » The Chester County Prison inmate who threw a self-made “poop bomb” on an unsuspecting corrections officer was sentenced Wednesday to an additional two to four years in state prison, on top of the months he had already spent in jail for a string of residential burglaries in Chester and Delaware counties.

Common Pleas Court Judge Patrick Carmody accepted the prosecution’s recommendation of adding the time to Gartor Kiki Brown’s sentence for a Pocopson burglary in which he was found guilty of stealing expensive jewelry from a home there. Assistant District Attorney Andrew Davis called the behavior “deplorable.”

“Put aside deplorable,” commented Carmody. “It’s dangerous” to throw human feces on someone who might contract disease from such contact. He

noted that the corrections officer had virtually no dealings with Brown before the incident, and had stopped by his cell only to gather a food tray.

“He was just doing his job,” the judge said. “And it was a lot of poop, and it was thrown all over him.”

Brown, 28, of Upper Darby, was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in county prison for the burglary charge, for which he was found guilty by a jury in February. Carmody then added the two to four year consecutive sentence for the charge of aggravated harassment by a prison, which makes it a specific crime to throw feces, urine, semen, blood or saliva on a corrections officer — a practice known in prison circles as “gassing.”

Brown had testified at the non-jury trial before Carmody last month that what had occurred was a mistake, and that he was trying to get rid of the feces when it struck the officer. At sentencing, he said he maintained that explanation. “I stand my ground,” he said, with nothing to add in the way of an apology.

Carmody also accepted the recommendation of Brown’s attorney, Laura Walker, to give him to use the time he had spent

Gartor Kiki Brown had testified at the non-jury trial before Carmody last month that what had occurred was a mistake, and that he was trying to get rid of the feces when it struck the officer. At sentencing, he said he maintained that explanation. “I stand my ground,” he said, with nothing to add in the way of an apology.

in prison since he was charged with the burglary — about 15 months — to count against the burglary sentence, a move Davis had opposed. Thus, Brown would be eligible for parole immediately and sent to state prison to begin serving his sentence for the “poop bomb.”

According to a criminal complaint by Chester County Detective Christopher Bucci, on Nov. 13 the corrections officer was collecting dinner trays in the J-Block restrictive unit. Brown had only recently been transferred to that area and was apparently upset about it. When the officer approached his cell, Brown threw a Styrofoam cups filled with his own feces on the officer, covering his shirt.

The officer had to be put through decontamination process and treated at Chester County Hospital for possible exposure from the attack, Bucci wrote. He was not infected, however.

“As a prison guard you expect certain indignities, but not that,” Carmody said. “It’s a very serious charge.”

Brown was awaiting trial on the Pocopson burglary case, in which he was later convicted of breaking into a home on Brandyridge Drive in August 2015 and stealing several items of jewelry the owner kept in a jewelry box in her bedroom. Including in the stolen items was a gold ring with diamonds and rubies valued at $20,000, Davis said, as well as other earrings and necklaces valued at over $1,000.

Many of the items were recovered when Upper Darby police searched the home he was staying in at the time and found items stolen from other burglaries in Delaware County. He was sentenced on those crimes earlier this year.