Accused of cracking bullet-resistant jail windows with a metal bucket handle, a man detained at the Campbell County Detention Center now faces one more felony charge than he did originally.
Garrett Wayne Bentley, who is 38 this year, was jailed on accusations he went through Gillette streaking and yelling obscenities, then terrorized hospital staffers with similar behavior June 1.
Once in jail, he allegedly threw a cup full of poop and urine at a detention officer, saying he wanted the felony charge of assaulting a detention officer so he could go back to prison, court documents relate.
He Really Wants Felony Charges
Now he’s facing another possible 10 years in prison on allegations he broke a bucket and used its metal handle to crack four bullet-resistant windows in the jail.
Bentley’s most recent case ascended to the Campbell County District Court last week and he’s set for arraignment Oct. 12.
The charge dates back to the morning of Aug. 10, when a detention staffer released Bentley for his one hour of freedom from his 23-hour lockdown.
Bentley was on 23-hour lockdown because of “previous assaults on officers,” says the affidavit in the case.
This time a detention officer had placed a mop bucket and cleaning fluid bottles into Bentley’s residential jail block before letting the inmate out of lockdown.
Bentley got out about 7:41 a.m.
Expensive Windows
At 8:15, Bentley hurled the mop bucket at the windows until it broke and its metal handle came free, says the affidavit.
He then used the metal handle to hit the three large bullet-resistant windows and a door window, ultimately destroying the windows with divots and spider cracks, the document claims.
These are half-laminate windows covered with ballistic glass, says the affidavit. The door window was 2 feet wide and 4 feet high, while the other three pod windows were 2 feet wide by 5 feet high.
Staffers will have to replace the windows, says the affidavit. They cost more than $1,000 each.
The earlier felony Bentley faces of assaulting a detention officer is punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines, while this property destruction charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
The charges Bentley faced when first jailed were breach of peace — all misdemeanors punishable by months in jail, not years in prison.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
