An inmate at the Lake County Jail in Two Harbors is accused of beating a corrections officer with the officer’s own Taser on Oct. 3, taking the officer’s keys and trying to escape, according to a criminal complaint reported by FOX 9 and FOX 21.
Samuel Osborne Stenberg, 21, of Beaver Bay, faces multiple assault charges.
The officer was escorting Stenberg to a day room for a phone visit at about 1:43 p.m. when he grabbed the officer in a bear hug, put the officer in a headlock and took the officer to the ground, according to the complaint. Investigators reviewed jail surveillance video of the attack.
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The complaint alleges Stenberg punched the officer about 12 times, then took the officer’s Taser and tried to fire it. When it did not deploy, he struck the officer in the head with it about nine times, the complaint says.
Stenberg is accused of taking the officer’s keys and running down a hallway to try to escape, then returning and attacking the officer again.
Two responding officers found Stenberg in the hallway holding jail keys, with blood on him, according to the complaint. He ignored orders and moved toward the officers, who used Tasers before handcuffing him, the complaint says.
The injured officer was taken by ambulance to Aspirus Lake View Hospital in Two Harbors, treated for head injuries and later released, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office told Northern News Now. The complaint says the officer was treated for a traumatic brain injury and for cuts that needed about 12 staples to close.
Stenberg was taken to the Carlton County Jail after the attack and is separately accused in a stabbing the day before, FOX 21 reported.
His first court appearance in the jail case is scheduled for Oct. 12. MN CRIME has not independently reviewed the complaint.
