A man convicted of wounding seven people during a 2005 mall rampage in Tacoma was involved Wednesday in a dramatic prison escape attempt that left another prisoner dead, corrections officials said.
Dominick Maldonado, 25, an inmate at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center, took a corrections officer hostage with a pair of scissors just after 10 a.m., said state Department of Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis.
At the same time, another inmate drove a forklift out the doors of a work area and into a prison fence. A corrections officer shot and killed the forklift driver, who has been identified as 25-year-old Kevin Newland.
Newland was serving a 45-year sentence for first-degree murder in Spokane County.
Lewis said the hostage situation ended with minor injuries to the guard.
Maldonado is serving a 163-year sentence for numerous charges related to a 2005 shooting spree at the Tacoma Mall. Four people were taken hostage during the melee, which lasted for several hours and left seven people injured. The most seriously wounded victim was left partially paralyzed.
Maldonado was convicted in 2007 of 15 crimes, including attempted murder, assault and kidnapping. During his trial, Maldonado's defense argued he was in the throes of a mental disorder and shouldn't have been held responsible for the assault.
Newland began his 45-year prison sentence in November 2007 after a Spokane County jury convicted him of shooting to death Jamie Lynn Drake, the roommate of a woman he was dating.
Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza told The Spokesman-Review newspaper Drake was a "nice young lady" whose family suffered greatly over her loss.
"Most crimes are stupid and senseless," Cozza said. "This was more stupid and senseless than most."
