No Bail for Inmates Charged In Cook County Jail Attack on Correctional Officers

COOK COUNTY, IL – Three inmates charged in last week’s brutal assault on two correctional deputies in the Cook County Jail were ordered held without bail during a court hearing Sunday afternoon. The alleged attack was captured on video showing the inmates punching and kicking the guards. Both officers were seriously injured.

David Bush, 19, Taiwan McNeal and Terrence Lynom, both 20, appeared in court Sunday shackled and handcuffed, news reports said. Three were each charged with attempted murder. The inmates are also being charged with two counts of aggravated battery with great bodily harm, two counts of aggravated battery to a peace officer and two counts of felony mob action.

The attack happened inside the Division 9 super maximum facility. One deputy suffered a fractured eye socket. The other deputy was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion. Both guards are recovering their injuries.

Prosecutors said McNeal appeared to have rushed the deputy in what looked to be a planned attack. The deputy was locking a door, when McNeal tried to run past the door to a recreational area, the Chicago Tribune reported. The other inmates converged upon the deputies.

Bush and McNeal are currently being held on attempted murder charges in the 2015 attempted shooting of an off-duty Oak Park police officer. Lynom was also charged with attempted murder, when he allegedly shot a 6-year-old girl as she rode her bike through Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood in 2014. Dart said all three detainees have had multiple disciplinary run-ins at the jail.

The detainees are scheduled to appear in court Sunday at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building at 26th Street and California Avenue.

“This incident serves as a harrowing reminder that correctional staff puts their lives on the line every day in the line of duty. When inmates feel they can compromise the safety of staff, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office will seek the highest possible charges under the law,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Video via Cook County Sheriff's office