Deputy, nursing staff thwart inmate escape attempt from hospital

LACONIA — Belknap County Jail inmate James A. Gillette is now facing additional charges after an escape attempt at Concord Hospital-Laconia.

Gillette, 42, allegedly attacked a sheriff’s deputy during a medical visit, and attempted to take the deputy’s gun.

During the struggle, the still-unnamed deputy was struck repeatedly in the head and body, according to the Belknap County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident occurred Monday at 10 a.m. Gillette, who was arrested two weeks ago by the Belknap County Special Operations Group, was transported to Concord Hospital-Laconia via ambulance. A single corrections officer accompanied Gillette during his trip to the emergency room.

“The medical condition was just an evaluation he needed to be seen for,” Chief Deputy James McIntire said. “It is being investigated whether or not it was a planned incident; it does seem like he may have staged it to possibly escape.”

According to Adam Cunningham, Belknap County Jail superintendent, sheriff’s deputies can relieve correctional officers from guarding suspects at the hospital between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

After Gillette was brought in for his medical assessment, a single deputy arrived to relieve the corrections officer from duty.

During Gillette’s evaluation, he “jumped the Deputy and punched the Deputy several times about his head and attempted to grab the Deputy’s firearm,” according to a media statement from the sheriff’s department.

“At some point during the attack, [the deputy] was assisted by nursing staff,” McIntire said. After the nursing staff and lone deputy subdued Gillette, the former combatants were assessed for injuries.

The deputy was well enough to return to work Tuesday, according to McIntire.

“He was evaluated for being struck to the head and body throughout the incident,” McIntire said. “He has some bruising and a black eye and he is recovering.”

Gillette was released from the hospital and returned to the county jail.

When asked what Gillette’s security status was at the time of the attempt, McIntire said, “He’s certainly higher [status] now. Typically, it’s not high-risk unless there is an escape attempt, assault in the jail, or assault on a corrections officer.”

McIntire added that Gillette had been cooperative thus far, and that Monday’s attack was the first negative interaction the sheriff’s department had with him since his incarceration.

“Now, he’s a higher risk transport,” McIntire said. “We’d certainly do a two-deputy transport with ankle restraints and handcuffs.”

According to Cunningham, Gillette was classified as maximum security at the jail prior to his escape attempt, but only one corrections officer was assigned to accompany Gillette due to the medical nature of his transport.

“This probably, in hindsight, would have been a two-man transport for us, except for the circumstances at the time,” Cunningham said. “We probably would have sent a second corrections officer down [to the hospital], but the sheriff’s department was already on the way.”

McIntire said security status classifications are not necessarily universal between the jail and the sheriff’s department.

“I don’t know what [the jail’s] system is. Their system and our system is not necessarily on the same ranking system,” McIntire said

In "the DiBiaso case, he kicked open the back door of the jail," McIntire said, referring to an incident that happened last July, during which a pretrial inmate escaped custody. "On our books he's a two-person transport, but the jail may have classified him differently. It’s not a related system. If they have a heads-up that this guy is dangerous or made threats, they’ll pass it on.”

Gillette's maximum-security classification may not have been relayed to the sheriff’s department on Monday morning.

“They had one corrections officer with him at the hospital,” McIntire said. “They asked for us to come and relieve them, so there was no indication he was difficult or high risk. Our deputy would have gone to the hospital to assist with an inmate and not even know who was up there and relieved a single corrections officer.”

Gillette was initially arrested on a warrant for criminal threatening with a deadly weapon in Belmont two weeks ago. At the time, Gillette was apprehended in a residence with five other individuals. Two of them also had outstanding warrants.

Due to the dangerous nature of Gillette’s charge, Belmont Police Department called the county SWAT team to make the arrest. Gillette and two other suspects surrendered without incident. Prior to Monday, Gillette was being held in pretrial detention for the threatening charge, two counts of criminal trespassing, driving with a revoked or suspended license, second-degree assault and one count of being an armed career criminal. He is now facing additional charges related to Monday’s alleged escape attempt.

“Attempted escape with multiple attempts to grab a firearm off a law enforcement officer are extremely serious crimes,” McIntire said.

Gillette is facing four charges of second-degree assault with “extreme indifference,” three charges of taking a gun from an officer, one charge of resisting arrest and one charge for attempted escape. His arraignment date is yet to be determined.

A spokesperson for Concord Hospital-Laconia confirmed there was an incident Monday in the emergency department, but did not offer any details.