More than three dozen Nebraska State Patrol troopers joined prison personnel in searching for contraband in the wake of assaults on two staffers at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.
The searches Sunday and Monday uncovered homemade alcohol, items that will be tested for the presence of drugs and some items that could have been modified into weapons, said state prisons director Scott Frakes.
The assaults happened at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday inside one of the prison's housing units. An inmate punched a staff member in the head and knocked him out. The inmate continued to assault the staff member and used pepper spray on him, the corrections department said.
When a second staff member arrived, the inmate struck him in the head with the pepper spray canister. The staffer was able to deploy his own pepper spray, and the inmate had been restrained by the time help arrived.
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The first injured staff member remains hospitalized after the assault. The second injured staff member was treated for head wounds and released from a hospital.
Sunday morning, 30 members of the prison system's emergency response team searched the area where the assaults took place. Monday, State Patrol troopers joined 42 members of the emergency response team and 11 members of a special operations response team in searching other parts of the prison.
Frakes said the added manpower from the state patrol allowed prison officials to search the facility more effectively and efficiently. The prison was in modified operations, meaning some inmates were confined to cells, others received direct escorts, and programs and work activities were canceled.
Last fall, nearly three dozen members of the Nebraska National Guard joined staff at the Lincoln Correctional Center to search the prison for contraband, prisons officials said.
In September, two organized searches were conducted of the Nebraska State Penitentiary, including one with assistance of the State Patrol and the Lincoln Police Department.