SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Violent King County Jail inmate with long history attacks guard

Aug 27, 2019, 2:45 PM

King County Jail, Human Roulette, ICE, criminal justice...

King County Jail. (KIRO 7)

(KIRO 7)

It must be very pleasant to work in the King County Jail considering the caliber of criminals we’re putting away these days.

At about 3:30 a.m. on July 16, a 31-year-old man allegedly stabbed a jail worker at the King County Jail with a very sharp pencil, nearly hitting him in the eye, as KIRO 7 TV reported.

First of all, let me tell you a little bit about this guy. Ramon Silva Jr. has a criminal record as long as you can possibly imagine.

He was convicted of two counts of domestic violence. Last year, he assaulted a woman by poking her eye and attempting to strangle her on multiple occasions.

Dori: Repeat offender tries to stab woman with pitchfork at Ballard Post Office

He was also charged with attacking an officer at the King County Jail last year — in the form of throwing a mix of feces and urine at the guard’s face. Can you imagine on top of everything else you have to deal with as a jail guard, getting feces and urine thrown in your face?

In another instance, while escaping police by car, he nearly hit two shoppers in the parking lot he was at and aimed an assault rifle at the Washington State Patrol trooper trying to stop him.

He’s also got a long list of assault and theft charges going back to the early 2000s, even when he was still a juvenile.

By the way, all of this information is in that LInX database that King County Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht has just taken away from all of her deputies and detectives. So if this guy, who has pulled an assault rifle during an attempted traffic stop, was out, and police were chasing him, and they wanted to find out what kind of guy they were dealing with based on his criminal history, they would not be able to do so. That’s the kind of critical information that could mean the difference between life and death for officers.

So now that you’re brought up to speed, let’s talk about what this guy did last month. He was being moved from one cell to another, but did not want to be moved. As the jail guard was speaking to him through the sliding window in his cell door, Silva Jr. allegedly spat at his face. They brought another corrections officer over to move him to another cell.

Silva Jr. allegedly covered the window in his cell door, barricaded his door shut, and blocked the light in his cell with bedsheets. He even tried to throw officers off balance by scattering pencils and water all over the floor.

When they entered his cell, he took a sharpened pencil and stabbed an officer twice in the head — to the point where he was bleeding — very close to his eye. Silva Jr. eventually had to be tased.

This could be a Third Strike offense. Let’s hope that Governor Inslee doesn’t commute this guy’s sentence like the other Third Strike offender who has been on the run for two weeks.

This is what happens when we are as soft on crime as we are around here. This guy should have been locked up for life after all of those violent offenses.

Say a prayer for these corrections officers who have to deal with this kind of violence. And if this is indeed a Third Strike offense, good riddance to this guy.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump underwater amid explosions, wi...

Associated Press

Six months on, the Iran war has changed the Middle East, but not in the way its architects had hoped

It’s been six months since the United States and Israel attacked Iran with the perennial goal of transforming the Middle East through military force. The region has changed, but not in the way they had hoped. The Islamic Republic survived the assassination of its top leaders and weeks of heavy bombing, and found a potent […]

3 hours ago

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington makes his closing arguments to the jury in the Lindsay Clancy mur...

Associated Press

Jury in Lindsay Clancy trial to resume deliberations Friday

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial were set Friday to resume determining whether she was responsible for her actions when she killed her three children in 2023. Clancy admits that she strangled her children, but her lawyer said she did it because she’d lost her grip on reality due to postpartum […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Asian shares mostly gain after upbeat results for Nvidia and others lift US stocks

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher Friday in Asia after Nvidia and other technology stocks led an advance on Wall Street. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1% to 6,841.50, while most other regional markets logged moderate gains. U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices slipped. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.8% to 66,682.88, […]

3 hours ago

Workers installing bulletproof glass around the podium at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in pre...

Associated Press

Civil rights groups make urgent plea for voting rights in DC, ahead of midterm elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters are expected on the National Mall on Friday for a rally in support of voting rights and racial justice ahead of the midterm elections, following a wave of changes to voting laws and redistricting that civil rights groups have condemned as detrimental to Black Americans. The 2026 “Defend the […]

3 hours ago

President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to board Marine One on the Ellipse, Friday, Aug. 14, 20...

Associated Press

Trump used to say he saw a quick end to his Iran war. Six months later, he claims he’s in no hurry

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump arrives at an awkward moment for his presidency on Friday as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran reaches the six-month mark, a notable milestone for a conflict that the Republican leader repeatedly assured Americans would be a “little excursion” lasting a matter of weeks. The war isn’t over, though Trump […]

3 hours ago

FILE - Members of the National Guard stand watch on Beale St., Friday, July 17, 2026, in Memphis, T...

Associated Press

Autopsy shows Tennessee National Guard fatally shot 20-year-old armed man in the back

Tennessee National Guard members assigned to a federal anti-crime task force in Memphis fatally shot an armed 20-year-old man in the back, according to an autopsy report obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, contradicting police accounts that said the man was facing the troops when they fired. Authorities have said that Tyrin Johnson turned toward […]

4 hours ago

Dori: Violent King County Jail inmate with long history attacks guard