Man nabs himself another charge after jail fight

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - A Tippecanoe County Jail inmate who has been behind bars on charges of making meth now has another felony charge on his list.

According to Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Patrick Harrington, 20-year-old Ty Wilkerson is facing a charge of battery (a Class C felony) after being accused of assaulting a fellow inmate. Wilkerson was already in jail on charges of manufacturing and possessing meth.

Court documents say on Feb. 7, Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Lt. S. Hodson was sent to the jail for a report of battery between inmates.

Upon arrival to the C3 area of C-Pod (a section of the jail), Hodson said he noticed blood drops on the floor.

The victim of the battery had been transported to St. Elizabeth Central Hospital, where doctors said he would need surgery for several broken bones in his face, and it appeared his left orbital bone (the bone around his left eye) had been broken.

The victim told Hodson that Wilkerson had come down the stairs to the C3 dayroom, walked up to the victim and punched him in the face. The victim said he had then walked back to his cell, but that a short time later, Wilkerson had entered the victim’s cell and hit him repeatedly. The victim said both attacks were completely by surprise.

Hodson took a look at the surveillance video footage from the area in question within the jail. Court docs say the video shows Wilkerson coming down the stairs in C3 in a “brisk manner,” setting a Styrofoam cup down and then turning and immediately throwing a punch at the unsuspecting victim.

After the punch, the video shows the two squared off for a moment, but no more activity occurred. The two retreated to their respective cells.

However, after the confrontation, the video shows exactly what the victim described: Wilkerson rushing to the victim’s cell, deliberately closing the door behind him. The video shows other inmates peering through the cell door window.

Lt. Hodson said it was clear an altercation was taking place inside the victim’s cell.

Court documents go on to say Wilkerson admitted to officers that he struck Miller in the face, but denied subsequently entering Miller’s cell, despite the video showing him clearly doing this. Wilkerson claimed Miller had called him a name.