Inmate cut with blade at jail

Police say incident is gang related; victim is returned to prison

Friday, November 3, 2006

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

A man who was sliced repeatedly with a razor blade Monday in what authorities called a gang-related jail fight returned to a Salisbury prison Tuesday.

Joseph Brian Shatley, 35, of Lenoir was being held temporarily at the Burke County jail Monday while he awaited trial for breaking and entering, larceny and conspiracy charges, said Burke County Sheriff John McDevitt.

Shatley had been in the 16-man cell for only five minutes when another inmate grabbed his cigarettes, said Robert Thomas of Drexel, who was in the cell and said he witnessed the attack.

Thomas said Shatley then grabbed the inmate by the neck and tried to get the cigarettes back. Another inmate started punching Shatley in the ribs, Thomas said, while the first inmate pulled out a razor blade and began slashing Shatley's face and neck.

Guards responded while Thomas and other inmates tried to stop the bleeding, he said. "We put multiple towels on his face," he said, "and they turned instantly red."

McDevitt said that Shatley was taken to Grace Hospital in Morganton. Doctors told officers that Shatley's injuries were not life-threatening, McDevitt said.

Thomas said that at least two other men guarded the cell door or restrained Shatley during the fight. McDevitt said he was not sure whether any other inmates were involved in the altercation.

Shatley was returned to Piedmont Correctional Institution, a medium security facility in Salisbury where he is serving more than 10 years as a habitual felon, according to the N.C. Department of Correction.

McDevitt said officers believe the inmates attacked Shatley as part of a gang initiation, and they did not think that Shatley and the other inmates knew each other. The razor blade used to slice Shatley, he said, was likely smuggled into the jail.

The inmate who authorities suspect attacked Shatley is serving a 21-year-term at Polk Correctional Institution, a maximum security facility in Butner, for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury, according to the Department of Correction.

He had been in the Burke County jail about a week and was facing charges of assaulting a guard in a state prison in Burke County, McDevitt said.

McDevitt said that at least 14 inmates witnessed the fight and that his office is investigating the incident. The results will be sent to the District Attorney's Office, he said.


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