PORT ANGELES — The state Attorney General’s Office has filed an attempted murder charge against a prison inmate for a brutal attack on a Clallam Bay Corrections Center officer.
Abdinjib A. Ibraham, 30, was charged Friday with one count of second-degree attempted murder for allegedly striking Corrections Officer Terry Breedlove with a metal stool seat until he was unconscious in 2016, leaving the lawman with a traumatic brain injury.
“I’m committed to bringing justice to Officer Breedlove in this case,” state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a Friday statement.
According to the affidavit for probable cause, Ibraham approached Breedlove from behind and struck the officer with a metal stool from his cell on the morning of Jan. 25, 2016.
“Per the accounts of other inmates who witnessed the assault, Ibraham used the metal stool seat to beat Officer Breedlove in the head repeatedly and with as much force as he could muster,” said Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ed Anderson in the probable cause declaration.
“Ibraham also threw the metal stool seat down on Officer Breedlove’s head as Breedlove lay unconscious on the prison floor, striking him several times.”
Breedlove, who was 51 at the time, was found lying face down in a pool of blood after the attack.
The attempted murder charge was filed by Assistant Attorney General John Hillman in Clallam County Superior Court. The Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case at the request of Clallam County prosecutors.
While he was being handcuffed, Ibraham allegedly told a state Department of Corrections sergeant: “I did it. I killed him. I know I did,” according to Anderson’s narrative.
Ibraham allegedly told other prison staff that his target was another officer who caused him to go to solitary confinement.
“Guy I hit wasn’t even the one that had it coming, but you all the same and I couldn’t wait,” Ibraham was alleged to have said.
Ibraham threatened the lives of other corrections staff, saying he was “going for the kill” when he attacked Breedlove with the six-pound stool, Anderson wrote.
Breedlove was treated for numerous lacerations to his head and face at Forks Community Hospital and required life-saving medical intervention weeks later at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Anderson said.
A CT scan revealed that Breedlove’s brain had shifted 6 millimeters to one side of his skill due to pressure caused by a subdural hematoma.
“Doctors drilled holes in Breedlove’s skull to drain the blood from his cranium and relieve the pressure on his brain,” Anderson said.
Breedlove continues to suffer memory loss, headaches, blurred vision and impaired balance, Anderson said.
He has been diagnosed with concussive syndrome and a traumatic brain injury, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
John Scearcy, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters 117, which represents state corrections employees, applauded the Attorney General’s charging decision in a statement provided by the Attorney General’s Office.
“The brutal attack on Officer Breedlove must be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Scearcy said.
“Corrections employees put their lives on the line to serve and protect communities across Washington state.”
Breedlove was working alone in Unit G, which houses about 90 convicted felons, when the alleged assault occurred on the morning of Jan. 25, 2016, Anderson said in court papers.
Ibraham had recently returned to Unit G after spending time in solitary confinement for an alleged altercation with another corrections officers.
“We must continue to work to improve staff safety in our state’s prisons,” Scearcy said.
“The passage of legislation that extended assault benefits for DOC staff and funding approved this session to audit the staffing model in our prison system are good first steps.”
Ibraham is being held for a prior conviction at the Washington Corrections Center near Shelton.
He was sentenced in King County for four counts of vehicular assault, driving under the influence, second-degree taking a motor vehicle and first-degree robbery.
He is scheduled to be released in that case in 2021.
Second-degree attempted murder is a Class A felony punishable by a maximum of life in prison and a $50,000 fine.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.