SAN DIEGO : 3 Deputies Injured in Attack by Inmate

An irate inmate at the County Jail downtown tore a metal telephone wire out of the wall in a holding tank and slashed three Sheriff’s deputies with it Friday night, injuring all three.

John Lee Hall, 30, of the 2900 block of Coronado Avenue in San Diego, will face three counts of assault with a deadly weapon for the attack on the three deputies, who were attempting to subdue him after he had torn another telephone off the wall in the jail cell for newly arrested inmates, according to Sgt. Steve Maxin of the Sheriff’s Department.

Hall had been brought to the jail by San Diego police officers on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, authorities said.

Injured in the 10:05 p.m. fracas were Sheriff’s Deputies Joseph Mendoza, who required 15 stitches in his right arm and hand; Ramon Homan, who received six stitches in the small finger of his right hand; and Robert Pe, who suffered scratches. All three were treated at UC San Diego Medical Center.

Hall was treated by a physician at the jail. After saying that he would attempt to kill himself, he was placed in a safety cell pending further psychological evaluation, officials said.