A Salinas Valley State Prison inmate who was previously held in Los Angeles County was placed in restricted housing following an alleged attack on a health care staff member with an improvised weapon, state corrections officials said Friday.
Sean W. Cunningham, 43, was accused of striking the staff member from behind at about 12:40 p.m. Friday and then running away, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The prison employee was immediately given medical assistance and life-saving measures before 911 personnel were dispatched, state officials said.
The victim was taken to an outside medical facility for treatment. The extent of the employee’s injuries and condition were not disclosed.
Cunningham was later located and placed in restraints without further incident, officials said. He was subsequently placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the Salinas Valley State Prison Investigative Services Unit and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
The Office of the Inspector General was notified.
Cunningham was previously held in a Los Angeles County detention facility before being received into state custody on April 8, 2009.
He was sentenced to 49 years and four months for second-degree robbery as a second-time striker, with enhancements for use of a firearm, inflicting great bodily injury and a prior serious felony conviction, according to CDCR.
He was sentenced in Kern County on Nov. 30, 2016, to two years and eight months for resisting or deterring an officer while in custody with threat or violence as a second-time striker.
State officials said peer and other support services were being offered to employees.
Salinas Valley State Prison opened in May 1996 in Monterey County. The institution houses about 2,300 minimum- and maximum-custody inmates and employs about 1,500 people, according to CDCR.