HANCOCK COUNTY — A recent shakedown of D-block in the Hancock County Jail led law enforcement to a 7-inch makeshift plastic knife, county officials said.
Christopher Dion Waters, 31, Greenfield, has been charged with a Level 4 felony count of a prisoner possessing a deadly weapon. The charge carries a sentence of two to 12 years in prison, with six years being the norm.
According to a probable cause affidavit, jailers in early January conducted a search of Waters’ cell after receiving a tip.
An officer discovered the improvised weapon, which had been made out of a piece of hard plastic, hidden between two rolls of toilet paper under his mattress. The rolls had been smashed and put together to enclose the entire weapon, the affidavit said.
The plastic knife had a wrapper from a beverage bottle placed around one end to form a handle. The weapon had a sharpened point and a sharp edge, the affidavit said.
While jailers are not certain, the deputies who found the knife believe it was made from a plastic lid from a product inmates can purchase in the commissary, assistant jail commander Matt Boots said.
“It is apparent that the knife could cause serious injury or death,” the affidavit said.
Waters told investigators he had no idea how the weapon got under his mattress. He told them it must have been left there by the last person who stayed in the cell.
Waters had occupied the cell for about a month, the affidavit said. He told investigators he never bothered to separate the toilet paper rolls.
Jailers inspected the cell block in December and did not find a knife.
Waters was in jail serving time for a probation order violation when the weapon was discovered.
He appeared Tuesday, Jan. 21, in Hancock County Superior Court 1, where Judge Marie Castetter set a $3,000 cash bond after appointing an Indianapolis attorney to handle his case.
A pretrial conference has been set for March.
