SD Prison Guard Killed During Prisoner's Failed Escape
SIOUX FALLS, S.D (AP) -- Two convicted kidnappers killed a guard Tuesday during a failed attempt to escape from a Sioux Falls prison where they were serving lengthy sentences, authorities said.
Rodney Berget and Eric Robert, both 48, were apprehended on the grounds of the South Dakota Penitentiary, and a sweep of the facility showed all staff and inmates were accounted for, the state Department of Corrections said.
Berget is serving life for attempted murder and kidnapping convictions, and Robert is serving an 80-year sentence for a kidnapping conviction.
The duo tried to escape shortly before 11 a.m. and assaulted the guard in the process, the Department of Corrections said. The guard was pronounced dead at a hospital, and a second guard suffered minor injuries in the incident. The department did not release the guards' identities or further details about the escape attempt.
The prison, which has both maximum and minimum security wings, was locked down pending an investigation.
Berget and Robert were taken to the county jail in Sioux Falls, authorities said.
Robert pleaded guilty to kidnapping in a 2005 plea bargain in which other charges were dismissed.
An 18-year-old woman told police that a man posing as a plainclothes police officer pulled her over in her vehicle, told her he needed to search her car and then forced her into the trunk.
Berget was accused of entering the home of his ex-girlfriend and shooting her and her boyfriend. He also was convicted of kidnapping a convenience store clerk.
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