Inmates assaulted officers at prison facility

Associated Press - November 20, 2009 5:44 PM ET

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Department of Corrections is investigating a pair of assaults on officers at its Oakdale Medical and Classification Center near Coralville.

The department reported Friday that the attacks took place on Nov. 15 and are also being investigated by the Coralville Police Department.

Officials say that in one assault, 22-year-old convicted kidnapper and robber Earl Griffin punched a guard in the shoulder and face, harming the guard's teeth and blacking both of his eyes. The attack occurred shortly after Griffin had received his medication in the facility's pill line.

The department says that a short time later, 18-year-old convicted murderer Damion Seats punched another officer in the face and neck.

Both Griffin and Seats have since been transferred to the Iowa State Penitentiary.