HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. – The Highland Park inmate, who officials said asked to use the bathroom and overpowered a jailer, attacking him and stealing a Taser, has been charged.
Background
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The exchange happened before 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, at a Highland Park police facility off Woodward Avenue. It was not at the city hall facility or the new substation.
Officials said David Johnathan Soward, 29, asked to go to the bathroom and then attacked the jailer who let him out.
“A prisoner overpowered one of our jailers,” Highland Park police Chief James McMahon said on Dec. 12. “He attempted to escape. He assaulted our jailer.”
McMahon said the jailer got punched. Soward took the jailer’s Taser and tried to use it, but it didn’t work.
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said when officers outside the jail area commanded Soward to surrender, he allegedly refused and pointed the Taser at another inmate.
Officers entered the jail area and used a Taser on Soward to take him back into custody.
“He was contained within the jail, with no way out,” McMahon said. “Ultimately, he was taken back into custody minutes later.”
Charged
Soward was charged with Escape from Jail Through Violence, Disarming a Peace Officer, Resisting and Obstructing a Police Officer – Causing Injury, Possession of a Taser, two counts of Felonious Assault, and two counts of Resisting and Obstructing a Police Officer.
He was arraigned on Dec. 16, 2024, with a $50,000 cash/surety bond. The Probable Cause Conference is scheduled for Dec. 23 at 9 a.m. via Zoom.
