Breaking News Stories

Inmate crawls past Maricopa County jail officer in assault attempt

Phoenix (AZ Family) A man already charged with a string of sexual assaults is now accused of attempting to rape a woman while in Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) custody.

Justin Avery was arrested on April 11 after allegedly assaulting five women near Arizona State University's Tempe campus.

Just days later, while waiting to appear before a judge, shocking jail video showed Avery sneaking past MCSO detention officers and grabbing a woman as she lay on the ground.

it is Phoenix Receiving and Transfer Processing Facility.

According to sheriff's office officials, Avery crawled on the ground, then groped the woman and pulled down her pants.

Court documents state a woman sitting nearby began yelling for the victim to get off.

The video shows him signaling for her to be quiet, at which point officers intervene.

“This was a failure of officers to properly use the technology they had to do their jobs,” said Stan Kephart, a former Arizona police chief.

According to court documents, Avery later admitted to detectives that he planned to “sneak in like a spider” and rape the victim.

Kephart said the incident was alarming and highlighted a major system failure.

“He's a sexual predator. That's what he does. Knowing that, he should be under extra supervision in these circumstances,” Kephart said.

A sheriff's office spokesperson released the following statement regarding the attempted attack:

Fix: An earlier version of this article referred to sheriff's officers as deputy sheriffs. The article has been updated to the correct title: detention officers.

Did you notice any spelling or grammar mistakes in the article? Click here to report.

Have breaking news photos or videos? Submit Here it is Comes with a brief explanation.

Share this post: