Cook County Jail Inmates Charged In Separate Attacks

Caption: (left to right) Jimmie Smith, 39, and Aaron Donaldson, 32, are facing multiple charges for attacking county officials behind bars, according to the Cook County Sheriff.

Detainees have been charged in two separate attacks against a Cook County Sheriff’s correctional officer and a Cook County public defender.

Both detainees are currently incarcerated at Cook County Jail, Sheriff Tom Dart announced. The most recent incident happened on Dec. 10, when detainee Jimmie Smith, 39, stabbed one of his public defenders with a makeshift knife inside Division 9 of the jail, Sheriff’s Office investigators said.

After sticking the public defender with a shiv, Smith punched him. The attack occurred at the end of a visit with his two public defenders, the sheriff office’s investigation revealed.

Correctional officers immediately took custody of Smith, as others tended to the attorney’s injuries and called 911. The attorney was treated for his injuries

Smith is facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and possession of contraband in a penal institution. He appeared in bond court on Thursday.

The sheriff’s office said that Smith is currently being held without bond at Cook County Jail on charges of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and two counts of contraband in a penal institution.

Smith, of Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, is accused of abducting and assaulting two women and two teenage girls on the city’s South Side, news reports said.

On Dec. 2, detainee Aaron Donaldson, 32, knocked a Cook County correctional officer unconscious when he punched him inside Cermak Hospital, the onsite jail hospital, the sheriff’s office said.

Sheriff’s investigations say that Donaldson was also handcuffed at the time. The officer was taken to local hospital for medical treatment.

He was charged Dec. 9 with aggravated battery to a peace officer. Bail for Donaldson was set at $200,000 the next day.

Donaldson is currently awaiting trial on a class 2 felony burglary charge, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said.