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The two men are charged with attempted murder. The victim, a 63-year-old guard, is in stable condition.
By AMY HERDY
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 15, 2001
TAMPA -- As he reached for a mop inside a closet, 63-year-old jail deputy Ernest Morgan turned his back on two inmates for a brief moment.
It was all they needed.
Inside a common detention area of the Falkenberg Road jail, officials said, dozens of inmates watched early Tuesday as 19-year-old Rolando Padilla began to strangle Morgan, who was unarmed except for a can of Mace.
Then 23-year-old Ronald Tillman began to beat Morgan on the head, officials said.
As blood poured down the face of the 17-year veteran deputy, the two inmates beat him until he lost consciousness. They dragged him to a shower stall and tried to handcuff him.
That's when four other inmates came to Morgan's rescue.
Two of them wrestled with Tillman and Padilla. One ran to Morgan's desk and called 911 from a cell phone. Another tried to use Morgan's emergency radio to send a signal for more jail deputies. One of them beat on the door of the outside entrance in an attempt to reach another deputy.
Meanwhile, Tillman and Padilla took Morgan's keys and opened a door to an adjoining recreation yard walled in with concrete and covered by mesh and razor wire, officials said. Using bedsheets and a trash can, they tried to escape.
Realizing they could not escape, Tillman and Padilla came back to their bunks and tried to mingle with the rest of the inmates as backup deputies arrived, officials said.
"They were hoping for a code of silence among the inmates," sheriff's Maj. Robert Lucas said. "They were wrong."
Inmates quickly told deputies where to find Morgan, who was out of sight in the shower area, Lucas said.
They also identified Tillman and Padilla as being responsible.
Morgan, who had cuts that required two dozen stitches, was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he was in stable condition.
Tillman and Padilla were charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, attempted escape, depriving an officer of means of protection and kidnapping. They were taken to a maximum security area of the jail, Lucas said, where they will remain locked up 23 hours a day. Outside their cells, they will wear leg irons and handcuffs and be escorted by two deputies at all times.
"We are not going to take another chance with them," said Lucas, who met with the two after the attack. "I just wanted them to know they struck out against one of our family here," he said, "and don't expect any slack."
Lucas said the inmates who tried to help Morgan could not be identified because they are witnesses. However, he credited the other 66 inmates in that particular general population area for not trying to escape.
"It could have incited a riot," he said.
Detention deputies do not carry guns because of the danger of an inmate overpowering a deputy and taking the weapon.
He did not fault Morgan, he said, because the men jumped him from behind after asking him to get a mop. It was not unusual for inmates to do heavy cleaning in the middle of the night, Lucas said, when activity is low.
Personnel records show Morgan has a spotless record and is well regarded by supervisors, who described him on his last evaluation as "consistent, dependable and accurate" and as someone who has "character, objectivity and sets high standards for himself."
State records show Tillman and Padilla each have lengthy criminal histories. Tillman was sentenced in August 1995 to four years in prison for aggravated battery and battery with a deadly weapon.
Upon his release, he was arrested again and sentenced in August 1998 to 30 years as a habitual felon on charges of armed robbery and carjacking. He had been transferred from prison to the county jail to await a hearing before a Hillsborough judge. It was unclear Tuesday what the hearing was about.
Padilla's record shows he was arrested in June on a charge of carjacking and battery on a victim over 65.
- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.