Man who tried to escape SC jail charged in NYC hammer attack

A person who served greater than a decade in jail in South Carolina was not too long ago arrested in New York Metropolis for attacking a girl with a hammer, in keeping with regulation enforcement officers.

On Sunday, 57-year-old William Blount was charged with tried homicide and different crimes after New York police stated he smashed a woman on the head with a hammer 13 times earlier than stealing her bag at a subway station, the New York Every day Information reported.

Greater than 21 years in the past, Blount was concerned in a jail break from the Richland County Detention Middle when a guard was killed, The State beforehand reported.

Whereas he was not prosecuted within the demise of jail guard Alvin Sherman Glenn, Blount was sentenced to twenty years behind bars for different crimes in South Carolina.

The tried jailbreak

Blount was arrested on July 2, 2000, Richland County court records present.

He and his brother had been taken into custody after they broke into a Bojangles fast food restaurant, where they kidnapped two employees and made one open the protected, NBC New York reported.

Blount was charged with burglary, armed robbery with a lethal weapon, grand larceny, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and two counts of kidnapping, in keeping with court docket data.

Each Blount and his brother had been being held on the Richland County jail, which is now named in reminiscence of Glenn.

On Sept. 17, 2000, the 59-year-old Glenn was killed by inmates throughout an escape try.

Whereas awaiting trial on the armed theft fees, Blount and his brother, together with a 3rd man who was a homicide suspect, overpowered Glenn as he carried out the nightly 11 p.m. head depend, The State reported.

The detainees locked Glenn’s fingers collectively behind his again together with his handcuffs and sure his ft earlier than beating and strangling him, The State reported.

Through the tried jailbreak, Blount jumped from the detention heart’s roof and broke each ankles, in keeping with NBC New York.

The three inmates made it to a fence outdoors the jail the place they had been captured, The State reported.

Glenn was “somebody who cared about Richland County,” Sheriff Leon Lott stated in September 2021. “I need individuals to recollect him.”

Crime & punishment

On Sept. 22, 2000, Blount was charged with tried escape, an inmate taking a hostage, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy, in keeping with court docket data.

Greater than two years later, in December 2002, Blount pleaded responsible to the housebreaking, armed theft, weapons possession and each kidnapping fees from the Bojangles incident. He was given 15-, 20-, 5-, 20- and 20-year concurrent jail sentences for the respective fees, in keeping with court docket data.

The grand larceny cost from the armed theft was not prosecuted, court docket data present.

At that very same December 2002 court docket look, Blount additionally pleaded responsible to the conspiracy cost from the jailbreak. He was given a 3-year jail sentence that ran concurrent together with his punishment for the opposite crimes that initially landed him within the Richland County jail, in keeping with court docket data.

However a month later, the remaining circumstances from the tried escape had been closed after they weren’t prosecuted, court docket data present.

Legislation-enforcement sources stated Blount served 18 years of his sentence, the New York Publish reported. After being launched from jail in November 2018, Blount served the final two years of his sentence on supervised launch, the S.C. Division of Corrections stated.

Now, Blount is dealing with attempted murder, robbery and assault charges for the assault in New York, CNN reported.

“Notably horrific”

At about 11:20 p.m. on Feb. 24, Nina Rothschild was attacked from behind as she descended the steps on the Queens Plaza subway station, in keeping with the Every day Information.

Police stated a person “carrying a cane and shrouded in a black coat with a hood” kicked the 57-year-old Rothschild within the again earlier than repeatedly hitting her with a hammer till she collapsed, then taking her bag and operating away, the Every day Information reported.

Police stated Rothschild, a scientist for the New York Metropolis Division of Well being, was left bleeding from the mind, with facial lacerations and a fractured cranium — which her brother stated was partially changed by wire mesh, in keeping with CNN.

Rothschild was in critical condition at a hospital, the New York Fox affiliate reported. Additional info on her situation was not out there.

“Violence towards any New Yorker is unacceptable however an assault of a metropolis employee who has devoted her work to retaining individuals protected is especially horrific,” New York Mayor Eric Adams tweeted on Feb. 25.

On Sunday, Blount was arrested at a homeless shelter in Manhattan after a tipster acknowledged him, CBS Information New York reported.

The person behind the jail’s title

Glenn first got here to Richland County as an Military recruit, The State reported in 2000. He skilled at Fort Jackson and got here to like the realm, his household stated.

He was a part of a “massive, shut household” and was a “nice father,” his household stated.

Glenn had a 30-year Military profession and retired as a sergeant main. He got here again to Columbia after the retiring from the Military.

Glenn went to work on the jail in 1995 to present him “one thing to do,” a member of the family stated in 2000.

He by no means talked about any issues with inmates or complained about his guard job, Glenn’s household stated.

On the evening Glenn was killed, different inmates within the jail tried to avoid wasting Glenn by performing CPR, Lott beforehand stated.

“He was the perfect I ever labored with,” a fellow guard stated after Glenn’s demise. “He at all times had a sort phrase and at all times wore a smile.”

Employees reporter Travis Bland contributed to this story.

Noah Feit is a Actual Time reporter with The State centered on breaking information, public security and trending information. The award-winning journalist has labored for a number of newspapers since beginning his profession in 1999.
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