Texas Prisoners Break Out Of Their Holding Cell To Save A Police Officer's Life

July 9, 2016

Texas prisoners helped save the life of a police officer who had a heart attack directly outside of their holding cell.

The inmates were behind a locked door on June 23 in the holding cell of the District Courts Building in Parker County when the officer slumped over after joking with them.

"He just fell over," inmate Nick Kelton told WFAA. "Looked like an act. Could have died right there."

After Kelton and the other inmates realized something was wrong, they started yelling for help. When no one came, they broke out of the holding room.

The guard didn't have a pulse, so the inmates started shouting and banging on doors so loudly that deputies upstairs thought there was a fight. Deputies told the station they didn't know what to expect when they got downstairs.

"He had keys," Sgt. Ryan Speegle said. "Had a gun. It could have been an extremely bad situation."

When deputies realized what was going on, they got the inmates and began CPR on the officer. Capt. Mark Arnett said the prisoners likely saved the officer's life.

The officer has not been identified and is expected to return to work next week.

"I watched him die twice," Kelton said. "It never crossed my mind not to help whether he's got a gun or a badge. If he falls down, I'm gonna help him."

The room the inmates broke out of has been reinforced.