An inmate who bit a Tarrant County jailer has been sentenced to 25 years.
According to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, 55-year-old Gary Cole was sentenced on Friday after he bit a detention officer which caused a complete lockdown of the Tarrant County Jail back in November of 2018.
Cole was originally in jail awaiting trial for assaulting his girlfriend. While being moved into a special cell reserved for inmates on suicide watch, Cole refused to get out of a wheelchair that was being used to move him. Detention Officer Kalonji Foster stated Cole managed to get his head underneath Foster’s coat and bit him on his side multiple times.
The jail supervisor called for an alert which forced the jail to shut down. Foster was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital where he was treated with a tetanus shot and antibiotics.
Prosecutor Chris Dewitt told the jury, "Cole's crime is magnified because his resistance led to a lockdown of the entire jail, including the medical section, putting other officers and inmates at risk."
According to Dewitt, Cole’s prior federal and state convictions for armed robbery, auto theft and mail threats resulted in his enhanced prison sentence.
"Officer Foster was assaulted by an inmate, a risk he and every man and woman working in our jails face every day. With this 25-year sentence, the people of Tarrant County are sending a message that it's important to protect all of our law enforcement officers," said Dewitt.
