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Crime Beat 12/04/09

Published Thursday, December 03, 2009 12:02 PM

By David Berman
Summerville Journal Scene ®

Officer stabbed at Ridgeville prison

A prison officer was hospitalized Wednesday after being stabbed multiple times by two death row inmates at Lieber Correctional Institute in Ridgeville.

The officer, who was not identified pending notification of his family, was stabbed repeatedly with a makeshift weapon about 9 a.m. while monitoring the inmates in a recreational area, said Josh Gelinas, communications director for the state Department of Corrections.

After eluding the inmates, the officer retreated to the death row dormitory. They followed and were subdued by additional officers using chemical munitions, Gelinas said.

The officer was in stable condition Wednesday afternoon at Medical University Hospital in Charleston with injuries that did not appear life-threatening, Gelinas said.

The inmates involved in the attack were 30-year-old Quincy Jovan Allen and 26-year-old Mikal D. Mahdi, according to Gelinas.

Allen was committed to the Department of Corrections in March 2005 for a murder conviction in Richland County and Mahdi in July 2004 for a murder conviction in Calhoun County.

They were placed in special management cells reserved for disorderly conduct, Gelinas said. Meanwhile, inmate movement throughout Lieber has been restricted as the Department of Corrections and State Law Enforcement Division investigate the attack.

Donner on Blitzen

A Summerville man called the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office Nov. 29 after two unknown suspects reportedly rearranged his Christmas decorations, transforming them from nice to naughty.

The suspects moved reindeer statues from the man’s front yard to his porch, where the figures were found playing one of the lesser known — and more intimate — reindeer games, according to an incident report.

The man said his house guest saw the suspects enter his yard from a neighbor’s property. He confronted the neighbor, who became defensive and told him to leave, he said.

The neighbor told the reporting deputy that he had several guests of his own last weekend and he was unsure who could have moved the decorations.

In his report, the deputy noted that it was unclear whether the suspects in fact came from the neighbor’s house or just crossed his property on their way to the victim’s yard.

Contact David Berman at 873-9424 ext. 214 or dberman@journalscene.com

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