Local Attorney Assaulted Inside the Tom Green County Jail

An ex-inmate assaulted a lawyer in the Tom Green County Jail Monday night at 9:50 p.m. According to Lt. Christiana Lopez, public affairs officer for the Tom Green County Sheriff, the inmate assaulted San Angelo attorney Fred Brigman.

The assault occurred in the lobby of the upstairs visitation area, Lopez said.  Jail guards, Sheriff’s deputies and San Angelo police responded. The incident was over within minutes.

But Brigman was injured and transported to the hospital with incapacitating injuries. Lopez said no weapons were used in the assault; it was a physical assault with fists. The former inmate was not named pending the outcome of the investigation.

Lopez said that Brigman was not representing the ex-inmate who assaulted him. He happened to be there when the inmate decided to attack someone, and the selection of Brigman as the target of the inmate’s assault appeared to be random. “An assault like this could have happened anywhere,” Lopez said. Stressing that the jail visitation areas are safe, “We will continue to run our visitation procedures like they always have been,” she said.

The ex-inmate was charged with Aggravated Assault the Causes Bodily Injury and rebooked into jail.

Brigman’s office said that Brigman was not available for comment and that they do not have a statement to make on his behalf.

Update 6:45 p.m.

Several readers have sent us messages concerning the incarceration status of the inmate. According to the daily bookings report, Andrew Corey Jones was the only person booked into the jail yesterday on an aggrevated assault charge. He was previously booked in the jail from July 17 - August 1 for criminal trespassing. He was not booked in the jail from August 2 through the 4th until he allegedly assaulted the lawyer. On August 4th, he was booked again for Aggravated Assault that Causes Bodily Injury. We corrected the story to indicate that the person accused of committing the assault was an ex-inmate. This explains how the suspect could be in the visitors' lobby area of the jail.