Incident: Sunday, October 4, 2026, around 11 p.m., at the Whitley County Detention Center in Whitley County, Kentucky. Reported by the Kentucky State Police and the Whitley County jailer on October 5 and 6, with four inmates arraigned on October 9.
Three deputy jailers were injured when four inmates attacked staff and one of them escaped, Kentucky State Police said.
State police said dispatchers were notified around 11 p.m. that multiple inmates had taken control of portions of the jail. Investigators said the inmates kept a cell door from closing as a deputy jailer was conducting rounds, and that three of them then entered the jail’s control room and assaulted several deputy jailers. Troopers, jail staff and assisting agencies regained control of the facility, state police said.
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One deputy jailer was struck in the head with a mop bucket, a second was stabbed with a pencil, and a third was sprayed in the face with OC spray, according to state police. The deputy struck with the mop bucket suffered a serious injury, state police said.
Whitley County Jailer Jason Wilson said that officer sustained facial fractures and head lacerations and required emergency surgery. State police said the injured deputies were taken to Baptist Health Corbin and the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler Hospital and were treated and released. As of October 9, the injured deputy jailers had been released from the hospital.
One inmate, Charles Randle, 42, ran from the jail before troopers arrived. State police located him about 24 hours later, around 11 p.m. on Monday, October 5, walking on Kentucky 2792.
Randle is charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder, three counts of first-degree assault of a police officer and first-degree escape. James Fields, 55, and Roy Cox, 19, are each charged with three counts of first-degree attempted murder, three counts of first-degree assault of a police officer and one count of first-degree attempted escape.
Anthony Tucker, 45, is charged with three counts of complicity to commit first-degree attempted murder, three counts of complicity to commit first-degree assault of a police officer and one count of first-degree attempted escape.
All four men appeared before a judge on the morning of Friday, October 9, and pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 19. The Kentucky State Police investigation is continuing.
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