SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – An inmate at the Utah State Correctional Facility has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and assault by a prisoner after allegedly locking an officer in the shower in September.
Jordan Kent, 29, also faces charges of possession of prohibited items in a correctional facility, obstruction of justice and criminal mischief.
The officer allegedly smelled homemade alcohol, otherwise known as “brew,” coming from the cells of a few inmates. The inmates were released from their cells to allow the officer a chance to conduct a search, which reportedly came up empty. According to charging documents, the officer then noticed that two inmates had bottles of brew in their shorts.
The officer confronted the two inmates and asked for the bottles to be turned over. The first inmate reportedly handed the bottles over without incident. The second inmate, identified as Kent, handed one bottle over but allegedly still had one bottle in his shorts.
The officer asked for the second bottle, which Kent allegedly acted like he didn’t have. According to charging documents, Kent got “pissed off” before throwing the bottle into the shower. The officer reported telling Kent he was going to be written up before going into the shower to retrieve the bottle of brew.
Charging documents say the officer heard yelling and turned around to see a tablet being thrown at his head. The tablet nicked the officer’s right ear and shattered on the floor. Kent then allegedly shut the door to the shower which automatically locked the officer inside.
A second officer reported witnessing the incident through a camera. The inmates were locked back into their cells and officers in the control room opened the door to the shower to let the locked officer out.
Kent was serving time after carjacking a Salt Lake City taxi at knifepoint in 2018, leading to a brief police chase.
This incident is the latest of several recent incidents involving an inmate assaulting an officer at the Utah State Correctional Facility.
