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‘I think he got me': Inmate accused of stabbing officer with pencil at King County Jail

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SEATTLE — A 31-year-old Seattle man was charged in King County Superior Court with second-degree assault and custodial assault following an alleged stabbing at the King County Jail.

The incident is alleged to have happened around 3:30 a.m. on July 16.

In charging documents, prosecutors said Ramon Saul Silva Jr. stabbed a King County Jail officer "with a sharpened pencil in the head and cheek less than two inches from his eyeball."

According to prosecutors, Silva Jr. refused to move to his newly assigned housing and spit on an officer – striking the officer in the face and mouth.

"The defendant then darkened his cell, stuffed paper and socks under the door, and lined the floor with pencils which had the effect of giving him a tactical advantage in an attack on officers when 
they were left with no choice but to enter his cell," prosecutors wrote in charging documents.

When officers entered Silva Jr.'s cell, prosecutors said he began punching and stabbing a different officer in the head with a pencil.

According to charging documents, blood poured down the officer's face while he attempted to control Silva Jr.

Police said the officer was transported to Harborview Medical Center for treatment and as of July 23, had not returned to duty.

Additional officers were later able to detain Silva Jr., according to a probable cause document.

Silva Jr. remains in the King County Jail in lieu of $1,000,000 bail.

Prosecutors said Silva Jr. has an "alarmingly violent criminal history," and said on Nov. 9, 2018 he was sentenced to 84 months following a guilty verdict at trial for two counts of assault domestic violence.

According to charging documents, Silva Jr. also has also previously been charged with custodial assault – in which he is scheduled to represent himself on Sept. 30.

Silva Jr. has previous convictions for assault, theft and attempting to elude, among others.

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