FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — A detention deputy has been hospitalized after being punched dozens of times during a fight with inmates that stemmed from the attempted search of a Quran, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
On Friday, Flagler deputies responded to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility around 1:23 p.m. regarding a call about a deputy being attacked by two inmates.
The sheriff's office says inmates Carlos Dupree, 34, and Marion Gavins, 20, were being prepared for a meeting and requested to bring their prayer items along with them.
After receiving approval to take the prayer items, the detention deputy began to search through them for safety reasons, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
Dupree can be seen on camera telling the detention deputy that he would not allow him to search his Quran. The Quran is the central religious text of Islam.
The detention deputy then reportedly told Dupree that he needed to search it in order for him to bring it with him and reached for it.
It was at this time that deputies say Dupree violently shoved the detention deputy away from him.
While the deputy was trying to detain Dupree, Gavins then reportedly approached the deputy’s right side and violently shoved the deputy into the wall.
Both inmates then began "violently attacking" the deputy, the news release states.
Security footage reportedly shows both inmates repeatedly punching the deputy in the head until he lost consciousness and was unable to defend himself.
The detention deputy told law enforcement that during the attack, he attempted numerous times to reach for his radio but "due to the continuous, violent blows to his head and back" he was unable to call for emergency assistance. He was punched nearly 25 times in the face and back, the news release states.
Another deputy heard the attack taking place and was able to secure Dupree and Gavins.
The injured deputy was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for a possible concussion, head and back pain along with lacerations to his head, back, and forearm, the news release states. He was later released from the hospital to recover at home.
Dupree and Gavins are both being additionally charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, and depriving an officer of means of protection or communication.
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