Two deputies attacked, injured in Oakland County Jail in separate incidents
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard talks 2 inmate assaults on deputies and cruisers hit on M-59
Sheriff Bouchard talks about recent incidents Saturday where four deputies were treated for injuries at the hospital. All but one have been released, but the sheriff shared his thoughts on a trying weekend for his office.
FOX 2 (WJBK) - This weekend a pair of Oakland County Sheriff's deputies were injured in a pair of separate jail assaults.
A deputy was hurt during a fight between inmates and in the second situation, a deputy was harmed by an unprovoked attack both at the Oakland County Jail.
Sheriff Mike Bouchard said that the unprovoked attack was over an inmate not getting what they thought was enough food. He jumped the deputy and punched him multiple times in the face and head.
Bouchard called it a violent attack, and ironically, it began with a misunderstanding because the inmate didn't know he was actually served the right amount before the assault.
"There used to be boundaries in society, that you don't hurt your neighbors and your friends," he said. "And you certainly don't attack law enforcement when they're asking you to do something that's legal and appropriate. That seems to have withered away."
Although he did not elaborate on the second jail attack where a deputy was trying to break up a fight when they were injured, Bouchard spoke about his concern over what he sees is a societal shift, where violence has become more common.
"I'm not sure you know why, or to what extent, but we see people are quicker to violence," he said. "And since our folks are on the frontlines of so many issues, they're often the recipient of that violence."
In another incident, a 29-year-old Shelby Township man was killed after disregarding two marked deputy cruisers stopped with lights on, at M-59, and crashing into them. They were at the scene of a disabled vehicle in Rochester Hills blocking the left lane as a tow truck operator was dealing with the disabled vehicle.
Two deputies were injured but are expected to recover.