Inmate, deputy injured in AC jail fight

RITZVILLE — An Adams County Jail inmate and an Adams County Sheriff’s Office corrections deputy were both injured in a fight at the Adams County Jail early Tuesday, according to an ACSO press release posted on the agency’s Facebook page.

According to the post, Corrections Deputy Rory Suarez-Tapia was injured as he intervened in a fight between inmates Ramon Reyna, 28, and Anthony Vargas-Martinez, 21, who both shared a cell. The post said Reyna attacked cellmate Vargas-Martinez without provocation, repeatedly hitting Vargas-Martinez with a closed fist until he was knocked unconscious. Reyna then began kicking Vargas-Martinez in the head, the post said.

Suarez-Tapia entered the cell to stop the fight, using a Taser on Vargas-Martinez, who overcame the attempt to subdue him and attacked the corrections deputy, the post said. Suarez-Tapia was assisted by an inmate worker, not named in the post, and corrections officers employed several Tasers to finally subdue Reyna, who was eventually restrained, the post said.

Because of the seriousness of his injuries, Vargas-Martinez was airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where he was listed in critical condition, the ACSO statement said. Suarez-Tapia was treated for head injuries at East Adams Rural Healthcare in Ritzville and was later released, the statement added.

No cause for the fight was given, and the Columbia Basin Investigative Team is assisting the ACSO with the investigation into the incident, according to the ACSO statement.