Tommy Dale Brown

A burglary suspect in the Limestone County Jail cut his own wrist Wednesday and later struck a deputy in an attempt to escape custody at Athens-Limestone Hospital, according to an incident report.

The events led deputies to charge 42-year-old Tommy Dale Brown of Anderson with multiple charges, including first-degree escape, second-degree aggravated assault and promoting prison contraband.

Brown was discovered by corrections officers with a non-life threatening wound to his wrist. The report said the blade was quickly confiscated, and Brown was taken to Athens-Limestone Hospital for treatment.

Brown told a deputy he would not be going back to jail because he would be sent back to prison for violating his parole. Brown was released from state prison Sept. 5. He was convicted of third-degree burglary May 22 in Limestone County Circuit Court and sentenced to 115 months in state prison. However, the sentence was split so he would serve six months in prison and two years on supervised probation with the rest of the sentence suspended.

Brown has been arrested a number of times over the past several years, records show. Previous arrests include theft of property, breaking and entering a vehicle, criminal mischief, assault and failure to meet the requirements of the state Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Limestone County sheriff’s investigators believe Brown was one of several suspects involved in a recent series of burglaries targeting vacated homes. They believe Brown and Thomas Williams Jr. burglarized a home Sept. 18 on Bean Road that belonged to Williams’ grandmother.

Brown was arrested Oct. 6 in connection with that burglary.

At the hospital, Brown’s wound was stapled. He again said he would not be going back to jail and ripped the staples from his arm. His wound was stapled again, and a doctor told deputies Brown’s wrists could be cuffed.

Deputies began to put Brown in a waist restraint and tighten it so he could not pull the staples out again. The report said Brown made a move to escape custody and struck a deputy. During the scuffle Brown’s blood was transferred onto the deputies.

The report said Brown was taken back into custody and aid was rendered once again. He was then taken back to the Limestone County Jail.