Jacob Carl England: Prosecutors say he struck a Tulsa Jail officer in the ribs with his elbow on Nov. 1.
A man who already faced trial on three counts of murder in Tulsa's Good Friday shootings was bound over for trial Thursday on a separate charge of assaulting a detention officer.
At a one-witness preliminary hearing, a Tulsa County judge ordered Jacob Carl England, 20, held for trial on the felony assault and battery count.
England is charged with elbowing Nicholas Treantafeles, then a detention officer, while the handcuffed England was being escorted from the recreation yard at the Tulsa Jail on Nov. 1, court records show.
In an arrest and booking report, Treantafeles indicated that England would not go into his cell, pulled away from the officer in a violent manner and swung his elbow, striking Treantafeles in his ribs.
A sheriff's deputy reported observing "redness and slight swelling" in the area where Treantafeles said he was struck, a report states.
Court officials said the defense was willing to waive its right to the hearing, which was conducted by Special Judge Deborrah Ludi Leitch.
However, an assistant district attorney declined to give up the prosecution's right to the preliminary hearing, at which Treantafeles was the only witness to testify.
In the Good Friday case, which drew national attention to Tulsa, England and Alvin Lee Watts, 33, are both charged with three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of shooting with an intent to kill.
They are accused of shooting five black people at four north Tulsa locations early April 6.
The defendants each face murder counts linked to the killings of Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31.
The counts of shooting with an intent to kill relate to two victims, David Hall and Deon Tucker, who survived being shot.
England and Watts, who are described in court records as white, are also charged with hate crimes - five misdemeanor counts of malicious intimidation or harassment because of race, color, ancestry or national origin.
In the murder-shooting case, England and Watts are scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 9 in District Judge James Caputo's court.
At or before that court appearance, prosecutors are expected to declare whether they will seek the death penalty.
Bill Braun 918-581-8455
bill.braun@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Shooting suspect due to stand trial on assault charge
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