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CHICAGO (AP) — A Cook County Jail detainee charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a Chicago police officer attacked three correctional officers early Tuesday, leaving two of them unconscious, the sheriff's office said.
Dante Jeffries grabbed an officer who was passing out breakfast at about 3:40 a.m., pulled him into his cell and choked the officer until he lost consciousness, the Cook County Sheriff's office said in a news release.
Jeffries then grabbed the officer's keys and handed them to his cellmate, who opened other cell doors. As another officer tried to help his unconscious co-worker, Jeffries struck a third officer in the face, knocking him unconscious. He then attacked the second officer.
A sergeant armed with a stun gun arrived and ordered Jeffries and his cellmate, Sharelle Sims, back into their cell.
The two officers who lost consciousness were treated for their injuries at the scene. The other officer whom Jeffries attacked was seriously injured and remained hospitalized later Tuesday, according to the news release.
The sheriff's department said it would ask prosecutors to bring new criminal charges against Jeffries and Sims.
Jeffries, 30, has been in custody since July 2017 on charges outlined in a 113-count indictment including attempted murder, aggravated battery of a police officer, aggravated kidnapping and other violent charges. Those charges arose after a robbery at a cellphone store on Chicago's South Side. The robbers shot a police officer at the scene, shattering the officer's knee. Jeffries has previous convictions for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, domestic violence, and drug possession.
Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas said Jeffries posed a danger “to anybody he encounters” and ordered him held without bond.
Sims, 23, has been in custody since last August, charged with being an armed habitual criminal and of unlawful possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number. He has prior convictions for armed robbery and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
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