LONGVIEW — Two men are accused of making shanks while serving time in Cowlitz County Jail.
Victor Rogelio Flores, 31, of Kelso and Eric Artemio Galvan Abbott, 34, of Longview are each charged with the felony of possessing a weapon in a local corrections institution, according to court records.
Abbott is in jail on a $7,500 bond, and Flores is in jail on a $2,500 bond, jail records show. Both men had arraignment hearings on Thursday.
A police report says Cowlitz County Deputy Clinton Yeager went to the Cowlitz County Jail on Dec. 13 after a guard reported two inmates crafted shanks that were discovered after another inmate ratted them out to jail staff leading to a shakedown.
One of the custom-made plastic daggers was constructed with a “plastic purple deodorant riser,” the police report states.
The shank was allegedly made from the screw-like part of the deodorant case that police claimed was filed down to make a sharp, pointed weapon. Staff found the object on the ground near Flores’ foot, the police report states.
Flores was in jail because Woodland police arrested him for suspicion of the misdemeanors of indecent exposure and third-degree theft on Nov. 22. He was found guilty of both on Dec. 15 in Cowlitz County District Court and ordered to spend a week in jail.
Jail staff also checked Abbott’s cell for weapons, and guards found two shanks made of an unknown plastic material that Abbott also shaved down to a point, a police report states.
Abbott’s alleged shank was equipped with plastic wrap to act as a handle.
Abbott was in jail because he was found guilty of harassment and criminal trespass on Dec. 9 in Cowlitz County District Court and ordered to spend 30 days in jail, court records show.
According to The Daily News archives, at the age of 22, Abbott was also arrested and charged after allegedly trapping two men and beating them for stealing two marijuana plants.
The probable cause statement for the alleged finding of shanks says both Flores and Abbott remained silent, enacting their fifth amendment privileges for not self-incriminating.
