Inmate charged with kicking pregnant officer

A man being held in the Hill County Detention Center allegedly kicked a nine-month-pregnant officer in the stomach.

Anthony D. Ekstrom is charged with assault on a peace officer, two counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the county jail roster for Oct. 24, Ekstrom was taken into custody on charges of parole violation. The document detailing the assault incident starts at a point after his arrest.

A pregnant detention center officer was escorting inmate Ekstrom to the booking area so he could change from his street clothes, a charging doucment says. Ekstrom “started acting strange” and she called for assistance. Ekstrom was refusing to remove his underwear so he could change into his jail-issued underwear, the document says

After Ekstrom changed his clothes, he turned his back on the detention officers and began stuffing something into the front of his pants, the officers reported. As a result, one of the officers told Ekstrom to put his hands on the wall so they could conduct a pat search. This is when he refused to listen to commands and started kicking the officers.

The pregnant officer was behind Ekstrom, trying to help contain him, when he kicked her in the stomach, “possibly up to four times.” He also kicked her in the legs a couple of times, the document says.

Once the officers got control of Ekstrom, they escorted him to a padded cell, where he began to resist again. He was ordered to put his hands on the wall of the padded walls. The male officer reported finding pills, drugs and drug paraphernalia while patting down Ekstrom. At this point, Ekstrom pushed the female officer and attacked her, the document says. The other officer was then able to get Ekstrom to the ground. While the officers were trying to get Ekstrom under control, he again kicked the pregnant officer in the stomach, “several times,” the document says. She was transported to Northern Montana Hospital.

Ekstrom, according to reports, was put in a restraint chair after vandalizing the padded cell.

A tube that had blood on it was found on Ekstrom. Officers believed the inmate had it inside him when he was brought in the detention center.

Among the drugs found, field test kits have positively identified heroin and Xanax. A third substance, which Ekstrom claimed was cocaine, did not get a positive test result. At the time of the report, it was unidentified.

The bond for Ekstrom was set at $50,000. He is not listed on the jail roster at this time.

He is due to appear Jan. 21 at an arraignment hearing, in which defendants usually enter their intial plea of guilty or not guilty.