Sheriff wants inmates charged for attacking deputies

Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart is seeking attempted murder charges against three maximum security inmates at the Cook County Jail for allegedly attacking two correctional deputies.

The three detainees repeatedly punched the two deputies about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in a housing tier in Division 9, the super maximum facility, according to a statement from the Cook County sheriff’s office.

Both deputies were hospitalized after the attack, the sheriff’s office said. One deputy suffered an orbital fracture, and the other lost consciousness and was kept at the hospital overnight for observation.

Two of the detainees involved in the attack — 19-year-old David Bush and 20-year-old Taiwan McNeal — are being held on attempted murder charges in connection with the shooting of an off-duty Oak Park police officer in 2015, the sheriff’s office said.

The third detainee, 20-year-old Terrence Lynom, has been held in Cook County Jail since 2014 on attempted murder charges in connection with the shooting of a 6-year-old girl who was riding her bike in the Far South Side Roseland neighborhood.

Each of the three detainees has had more than 20 court continuances on their original cases and have had multiple disciplinary incidents issued against them while in custody, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office is working with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to seek attempted murder charges for the detainees, according to the sheriff’s office. The investigation is ongoing.