The Voice has learned that Jason Lusted, one of two suspects taken into custody related to the Oct. 2 death of Fenwick resident and business owner Earl Clapp, has allegedly assaulted a staff member at the Niagara Detention Centre, in Thorold.
Lusted allegedly bit a guard over the weekend, and was subsequently placed in solitary confinement.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General would only confirm that an incident occurred between an unnamed inmate and a staff member.
"The ministry can confirm an incident involving an inmate and staff member at Niagara Detention Centre on October 11, 2020," spokesperson Kristy Denette told the Voice.
"The staff member was not injured."
Denette said that the ministry has "zero tolerance when it comes to assaults or threats against staff. If staff are assaulted or threatened, the police are contacted to investigate. Inmates who engage in violent behaviour towards staff also face misconduct penalties, such as loss of privileges and forfeiture of earned remission."
Lusted has been held in custody since his arrest last Saturday, Oct. 10. He is charged with second degree murder in the death of the 74-year-old Clapp. Niagara Regional Police say that Clapp apparently interrupted an attempted theft of a trailer on his property in Fenwick. Police theorize that he was then dragged approximately 1.5 km north and west by his assailants. Clapp's body was found by a passerby on Hwy 20, west of Cream Street, early on the morning of Oct. 2.
Lusted, who was the sole witness in one of Hamilton's most notorious murder cases, is set to appear in court next Monday, Oct. 19.
