The State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents have charged two Kirkland Correctional Institution inmates with felonies after they allegedly took two nurses hostage in September.
Thom Berry, a SLED spokesman, said 34-year-old Eric Dale Tessner and 45-year-old Wesley Floyd have been charged with the taking of hostages by an inmate, a felony which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment upon conviction.
Berry said both suspects also were charged with first-degree assault and battery and carrying or concealing a weapon by inmates, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment upon conviction.
At 9:30 a.m. Sept. 5, both Tessner and Floyd made forcible entry into the nurse station at Kirkland, on Broad River Road in Columbia, an arrest warrant filed in the case said. The station contained prescription drugs.
Once inside, the warrant said that Tessner and Floyd both used homemade knives to take two nurses hostage. By 4:30 p.m., the suspects released one of the hostages. At 5 p.m., South Carolina Department of Corrections and SLED SWAT teams were dispatched to the nurse station to forcibly remove the second hostage.
During the struggle to free the second hostage, Tessner held onto the nurse while Floyd allegedly used one of the homemade knives to cut her neck in an attempt to kill her, the warrant said.
The victim’s condition is not mentioned in a SLED press release regarding the incident.
Berry said both Tessner and Floyd remain in the custody of the Department of Corrections. Their cases will be prosecuted by the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
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