Franklin County inmate accused of repeatedly punching jail officer in the face

A Franklin County jail inmate has been ordered to get a competency evaluation after hitting a corrections officer in the face several times, said officials.

Luis E. Blanco-Gomez, 28, will go to Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake for two weeks of observation.

A status hearing is scheduled Aug. 13 in Franklin County Superior Court. In the meantime, his third-degree assault case is on hold.

The felony charge stems from a July 28 incident in the county jail as Corrections Officer Dakota Rogers was making his rounds before nighttime lockdown.

Rogers told the inmates in one of the jail pods at 9:15 p.m. that it was time to start getting into their cells.

He was walking up the stairs when Blanco-Gomez came out of his cell and down the stairs and, for no apparent reason, punched the officer, court documents said.

Blanco-Gomez immediately followed that with an elbow to the officer’s face, documents said.

The inmate continued to walk past Rogers, turned around and came back up the stairs to allegedly punch the Rogers again.

Rogers told investigators that the first punch hit him on the jaw, and the second one on the cheek.

He had tried to ask why he was hitting him, when the inmate struck again, court documents said.

After the exchange, Blanco-Gomez climbed back up the stairs and went into his cell, documents said.

Online jail records show Blanco-Gomez has been locked up since July on fourth-degree assault charges.

The Connell man’s bail is set at $5,000 in this new case.