Dozens of Silverdale inmates charged in attack
More than two dozen inmates at Silverdale Detention Center were charged with aggravated assault after an attack last month on two fellow inmates, according to an affidavit from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
The May 27 incident in one of the jail’s housing units, or pods, started in a dispute over fentanyl, the affidavit said.
Witnesses told deputies that they saw one of the victims being stabbed at least five times with a shank, according to the affidavit, which also said both victims were attacked with a broomstick, and punched and kicked in the head and face.
“The altercation started due to (the victims) having fentanyl in the pod, but refusing to ‘break bread’ with the gangs in the pod,” the affidavit said. “Several inmates then began to assault the two and (one of the attackers) said that if he did not help them (the attackers) that they would ‘beat his ass too.’ (One of the attackers) stated he observed the black male with a tattoo between his eyes put a shank in (a victim’s) face.”
Solomon Lamar Pierce, 28 — determined by authorities to be the only man who matched the description of having a small tattoo between his eyes — was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, according to court records.
Pierce is also facing three counts of resisting arrest, one count of theft of property, three counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of criminal trespassing from unrelated incidents, according to court records.
Pierce is due to appear before Hamilton County General Sessions Judge Larry Ables on June 27 on all charges.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to emailed questions for comment.
When deputies interviewed one of the victims at Erlanger hospital, they saw several abrasions and lacerations to his upper torso and face, according to the affidavit.
“Deputies also observed swelling to (the victim’s) face, eyes and
head,” the affidavit said. “He was in and out of consciousness but was able to tell deputies that he did want to prosecute when asked. Medical staff informed the deputies that (the victim) may have a brain bleed.”
Terry Lynn Belcher, 43, — who is assigned to cleaning the pod — said he saw the assault start near the bunks, and when it was over, he cleaned up the blood of both victims in the shower area, according to the affidavit. Belcher was charged with evidence tampering and two counts of aggravated assault after being identified by the victims as one of the attackers, according to court records and the affidavit.
John Anthony Bone, 63 and Andre James Collier, 46, allegedly blocked the doors to the pod in an attempt to prevent the victims from leaving and jail staff from seeing the assault, according to the affidavit. They were each charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and two counts of false imprisonment.