Man charged with assaulting detention officer, causing a concussion

A prisoner at the Hill County Detention Center allegedly punched a detention officer in the face, causing a concussion.

Joseph Raymond Moore, charged with felony assault of a peace officer, is scheduled to appear in District Court in Havre March 21 at 10 a.m. for his arraignment hearing, to plead guilty or not guilty. Moore is listed in the HCDC on a $25,000 bond.

Court charging documents say officers with the HCDC decided to move Moore to another pod Feb. 26 because he was threatening to fight with another inmate.

An HCDC officer told Moore to gather his belongings and mattress and move them to the new location. Moore was unhappy about the move and complained, documents say. He cussed and threatened to beat someone up, documents say.

When officers and Moore arrived to the intended pod, they found the cover to the intercom box hanging off the wall with wires showing. The officer said Moore would have to be moved to the holding area.

Moore, who had already put his belongings on the bottom bunk of the pod, told the officer that he would have to carry his things because he — Moore — wasn’t going to. The officers told him multiple times to get his things, documents. Moore then shoved the officer and punched him in the left temple, documents say. A fight broke out and other officers helped get Moore under control, ending the scuffle.

Another deputy came to conduct an investigation, during which she noticed a lump above the officer’s left eye and swelling in his right thumb. The injured officer was sent to the hospital, documents say.

Moore told the investigating deputy that he first became frustrated when another inmate told him there were seating assignments in the first pod. Documents say Moore admitted that he did hit the officer in the face. Moore said he did it because the officer got in his face after he told him to carry his things.

Moore told the investigator he intended to cause more violence. He said he would “flip out” in court and start throwing things at the judge if he isn’t let out, documents say.

The next day, the assaulted officer went to the emergency room because there was blood coming out of his ear, he was dizzy and he was having migraines. The officer was told he had a concussion.