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Former Corrections Officer Awaiting Trial Charged with Making Threats

SCRANTON — A former Lackawanna County corrections officer is back at a jail, but not on the job. He’s behind bars because of threats he allegedly ma...
joe black

SCRANTON -- A former Lackawanna County corrections officer is back at a jail, but not on the job. He's behind bars because of threats he allegedly made regarding the criminal case that originally got him in trouble.

Joe Black of Dickson City was a correctional officer at the Lackawanna County Prison before he was arrested last year. He's awaiting trial on charges he sexually assaulted several female inmates there.

Black is locked up in Monroe County, this time charged with making terroristic threats toward his former employer.

Custom Auto Garage in Olyphant is where Joe Black works now. His new boss says last Friday was a day unlike any other.

"Out of the corner of my eye, I see two guys run by, and then two more guys run by. And I'm thinking, 'is there an accident?' Because we've had a lot of accidents out here, so, I assume there's something going on. I walk into the shop area and I see all these guys geared up with bullet proof vests and guns," Jerry Tully recalled.

Lackawanna County detectives took Joe Black into custody. He was out on bail and awaiting trial for charges that he sexually assaulted several female inmates at the Lackawanna County Prison.

Now, he's charged with making terroristic threats. Black is accused of saying that if he were to go to jail, he would bring a gun to the prison.

Black's current boss says Black has expressed anger about the sex charges against him but, never threatened any harm.

"The exact wording was, 'if I have to go to jail for this, I'm going to take down the people who I know about.' Just that, he didn't mean take down with bullets, or a gun, or a bomb or whatever the supposed accusations are," said Tully.

But law enforcement took the alleged threats very seriously.

At the same time last Friday, there was also a lot of activity at the Lackawanna County Prison. The warden won't go into specifics, but he says there was heightened security, all a part of a contingency plan for when a threat is made against the prison.

"I just walked out and I saw the guards kind of walking up and down, pacing, that was kind of it."

Andy Gavin's is right across North Washington Avenue from the county prison. Employees and customers watched it all unfold.

"I've been here 20 years and I think that's probably only the second time I've seen anything like that," said Trish Knapp.

Because of his association with the prison, Joe Black is locked up in the Monroe County Correctional Facility. Prosecutors have asked a judge to make Black ineligible for bail.

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