String of assaults at Vance County jail has sheriff concerned, asking commissioners for help

The Vance County Sheriff is calling it a crisis and pleading for help after three assaults in the jail in just one month.

One of the assaults was so serious the inmate had to be flown to the hospital.

Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame has been with the office since 1981. He previously worked in the detention center.

"Due to the deficiencies at the detention center, not being capable and able to lock the detention center down, the inmates can get out in the dormitory, anytime from 20, 25 inmates at one time," Brame said.

"The caliber of charges, all those different types of attitudes and personalities in one location, things escalate that turn into an altercation or fight and violence."

There have been three assaults in the last month. One of those assaults was captured on video, which is difficult to watch.

Sheriff Brame said the problem is two-fold and is brought on by low staffing and an aging facility.

Cell phone video provides a rare look at a fight inside a detention center. This fight at the Vance County Jail showed inmates punching another inmate on the floor. The cell phone video is circulating on social media.

Brame said he isn't sure how an inmate had a cell phone in the facility. The video stunned him as much as it did anyone.

"When I first saw it, I said 'oh my god.'

The inmate did not require any medical attention. There have been two more assaults in recent weeks in the jail..

A 911 call gives insight into the more serious assault which occurred Nov. 30.

"He has a wound on his back that the nurse is concerned about," Brame said. "We don't know how deep it is. She's concerned that his lungs may collapse."

That victim suffered about 24 cuts and will require stitches on his hand. The Sheriff says the inmate was stabbed with a homemade knife.

"Our jail is so old the building is deteriorating, so they can pull metal from the door and different areas and make their own weapons," Brame said.

Brame is asking county commissioners for a new facility to replace this one which he says was built in the 1950s. He's also asking for a raise for the detention officers as he struggles to recruit at a starting salary of $34,000 a year.

"Yes it is a crisis," Brame said. "I want to let the general public know. I want to let my county commission know."

A county commissioner told WRAL News that while the county doesn't have any specific plans to discuss the Sheriff's requests, he thought they were worth considering.