Inmate Charged With

Attempted Murder In Prison Attack

By Andrew Gorosko

A former Garner Correctional Institution inmate, who was involved in a recent dual assault at the high-security prison on Nunnawauk Road that resulted in an extended prison “lockdown,” has been arrested on criminal charges.

State police said that on November 13 they charged Jorge Alvarez, 46, who is now a prisoner at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers, with two counts of criminal attempt to commit murder and one count of assault on a correction officer.

Alvarez is scheduled to appear in Danbury Superior Court on November 24 to answer those charges. 

Garner was placed on “lockdown” status on the night of September 5, following an attack there in which Alvarez, who was wielding a razor, slashed another inmate and a correction officer, causing serious injuries that sent both men to the hospital for surgery.

Alvarez’s possession of a razor prompted a lockdown. In a lockdown, prison security is heightened. Inmates are restricted to their cells. Prisoner movements are tightly controlled. Prison staffers thoroughly search the building and inmates’ belongings for hidden weapons.

Alvarez allegedly used a razor to cut inmate Dexter Bennett, 28, during a recreation period. Correction Officer Michael Simpson, 38, then attempted to intervene in the fight.

Simpson and Bennett both received severe lacerations from the razor and were transported to Danbury Hospital by ambulance where they underwent surgery for serious wounds, according to state police. Both men were later released from the hospital.

Alvarez is serving a 60-year sentence on a murder conviction. He has a 2041 release date.

The state police’s major crime squad investigated the incident.

Garner, which opened in November 1992, is a two-building facility on 118 acres at 50 Nunnawauk Road. The main building contains 245,000 square feet of space and houses all inmates. An adjacent 15,100-square-foot building is used for maintenance. Garner is a Level 4 prison in a prison system in which Level 5 is the highest security rating. Garner typically holds approximately 700 inmates.