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Corrections Officer Injured In Scuffle

A Garner Correctional Institution inmate became involved in a scuffle with a

correction officer late on the morning of March 13 and bit the officer on the

lower chin causing a cut, a state Department of Correction (DOC) spokeswoman

said.

DOC spokeswoman Christina Polce said inmate Mark Mason, 27, was told by

correction officer Marc Owens to place a newspaper which Mason was carrying to

lunch back in his cell, but Mason refused to do so and started a verbal

altercation which escalated into a physical altercation.

In the course of the incident, Mason bit Owens on the lower chin, Polce said.

Three other correction officers received minor injuries in breaking up the

scuffle, she said.

Owens was taken to Danbury Hospital where he was treated and released, Polce

said. Owens, a nine-year DOC veteran, was back on the job at Garner this week,

she said.

Mason, who was serving a 12-year sentence at Garner on a burglary conviction,

was transferred to Northern Correctional Institution in Somers, Polce said.

State police said Owens also received a sprained finger in the altercation.

State police said they are investigating the incident in terms of a possible

charge of assault on a correction officer against Mason.

David LaPointe, president of Connecticut Correction Employees, AFSCME, Local

1565, urged Wednesday that state legislators approve legislation which would

add five years to an inmate's sentence if the inmate "propels" bodily fluids

at a correction officer, possibly infecting the officer with HIV or hepatitis.

"It's a very volatile environment every day, a very stressful environment,"

LaPointe said.