Inmate Dies in Courthouse Melee : 4 Deputies Hurt Before Man Is Shot During Escape Try

A man on trial for murder was shot to death and four Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were injured Thursday during a melee that broke out in a Santa Monica Courthouse lockup room when the defendant and another male inmate overpowered an unarmed woman bailiff in an apparent escape attempt.

A second woman deputy and two male deputies--all unarmed--were hurt when they came to the aid of Deputy Sharon Melancon as she was being beaten by the two inmates, and at least four others who joined in the melee, after opening the door of the glass holding room, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Derrick Swazie Harris, 26, who was facing murder charges before Superior Court Judge Leslie W. Light, was killed on the spot by Deputy Robert L. Madison, 53, the Santa Monica Courthouse supervising deputy, who rushed in to break up the brawl and help his fellow officers.

Harris was shot as he lunged at Madison with a chain from his shackles wrapped around his hand. Madison fired four shots, investigators said. All of them struck Harris.

The other prisoner who attempted to escape was identified as Eric Martin, 30. He was not struck by gunfire, but was slightly injured in the scuffle.

Melancon and Deputy Josepha Jones were treated at Santa Monica Hospital for bruises. Deputy Rudolfo Arellanes was taken to the same hospital with cuts of the face and head. Deputy Harold Phelps received a possible broken sternum and broken ribs, Deputy Robert Stoneman said.

After the original melee broke out, investigators said, three or four other prisoners grabbed Phelps and took him back to the holding area, where they apparently beat him up.

That, Stoneman said, was apparently a “spur of the moment” action, in contrast to the actions of Harris and Martin, who investigators believe spent some time planning their escape attempt. A hair pin was found in their cell which, deputies said, the two men apparently used to pick the locks on their shackles. Arellanes was slammed up against a wall and knocked to the floor by the same group, officers said.

Two of the prisoners who joined in the brawl have been identified. They are Thomas Gadson, in custody for burglary, robbery and felony assault, and burglary suspect James Wingfield. Additional charges of kidnap and assault with a deadly weapon will be sought against them, Stoneman said.

Several other prisoners who were in the holding area apparently did not take part in the brawl, Stoneman said.

Harris, according to Judge Light, was undergoing retrial on a charge of murdering a man who had demanded cocaine on credit in February of last year. His first trial ended three months ago when the jury deadlocked.

Martin, according to courthouse personnel, is already serving an 85-year state prison term and was in the courthouse to stand trial for robbery and burglary. It was not known why he was sent to prison.

According to Sheriff’s Capt. Bill Hinkle, Melancon opened the door of the lockup about 11:45 a.m. to remove one of the two men, but Martin suddenly jumped her. As Jones came to her aid, both women deputies were “beaten to the ground.”

Arellanes and Phelps were injured as they ran in to help. All the deputies were unarmed because they were working in the lockup area.

It was then that Madison hurried from another location and shot Harris to death in the hallway just outside the lockup.

Hinkle said of Madison, “He was forced to resort to deadly force.”

Judge Light said judges have been complaining for some time about the security problems at the Santa Monica courthouse.

“In other courts,” he said, “prisoners go directly from a locked, secure facility to the court--not down corridors with access to the public.”

The judge said the county Board of Supervisors has been asked to do something about the situation, “but nothing has been done.”

He said work was to have begun about a month ago on a safety entrance, where gates could be closed in front of and behind jail buses bringing prisoners to court. But the construction has not begun.