Special to the Tribune-Star
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Indiana State Prison Superintendent William Wilson announced Tuesday the successful resolution of a hostage situation that occurred at the Indiana State Prison in Pendleton.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., offender Scott A. Nicholson assaulted a correctional officer and subsequently took another correctional employee hostage while in a housing unit at the prison, according to a news release.
Prison authorities immediately mobilized emergency response personnel and began negotiations with Nicholson, who had taken refuge inside the housing unit. At about 11 a.m., Nicholson released the hostage and voluntarily came out of his cell and was taken into custody. The correctional employee was slightly injured during the initial incident and received medical treatment for superficial cuts. The correctional officer was not injured. Neither is being named in order to protect their privacy, according to the news release.
Nicholson was first sentenced to the Indiana Department of Correction in March 1998 on charges of robbery, criminal confinement and attempting to deal in controlled substances. Nicholson was convicted on Aug. 27 of attempted murder and other charges in the assault of a correctional officer while incarcerated at the Pendleton Correctional Facility. He also faces charges in Miami County for the 2004 killing of a fellow offender while incarcerated at the Miami Correctional Facility.
The Indiana Department of Correction is working with Indiana State Police on additional charges that will be filed.
All IDOC facilities were placed on lockdown as a precaution, but all with the exception of Pendleton Correctional Facility have now resumed normal operations. Pendleton still is under a lockdown for unrelated reasons.
