Montgomery County Correctional Facility. Photo by James Short.
An inmate at Montgomery County jail in Lower Providence Township was charged this month by county detectives with five counts of aggravated assault and five misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person for allegedly attacking five corrections officers during an incident in December.
Zakia Imani Turner, 35, of the 2600 block of Lamott Avenue, Willow Grove, was being housed at the jail for parole and probation violations, police said.
At 8:41 p.m. Dec. 7, Turner requested the use of a device for her toilet, which she was provided, and then allegedly became verbally abusive toward staff, saying “Give me some gloves you dumbass b----.”
Due to the verbal abuse and violation of inmate rules, the device was removed and taken away from Turner, authorities said.
Turner then allegedly became upset because she said she was receiving misconduct for her actions and that she received a cut when the device was removed from the cell, per the court affidavit. An officer attempted to talk with Turner to have her calm down and be placed into restraints so she could be examined in the medical division due to her complaint, police said.
Turner allegedly refused commands to come forward and be restrained and she became more hostile.
Multiple warnings were given to Turner, at which time she pulled the mattress off the bunks and stacked them in an attempt to block the way to her, police said.
Other staff members were called in to assist and the use of a pepper spray had no effect on Turner, police said.
When staff entered the cell, Turner allegedly threw two boxes of prepared meals at officers, moved into a fighting stance, and held up closed fists.
An officer began to remove the mattresses, at which time Turner allegedly grabbed her by the hair and punched her multiple times in the face and head. The victim was able to back out of the cell, detectives said.
Turner allegedly continued to fight and punch at staff as she was pulled out of the cell, authorities said, with a total of five officers attempting to restrain her.
Turner began to allegedly bite the first victim again on her left hand, causing pain and lacerations to the victim.
As she allegedly continued to fight, Turner bit and scratched the legs of a second officer, causing lacerations and swelling.
Detectives said the actions caused significant injuries to several officers and the first victim has not been able to return to work due to injuries.
A preliminary hearing is set for Monday at 11:45 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar. Bail was set at $20,077 cash, which includes a probation/parole detainer.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
