Transcript for Arizona Department of Corrections releases video of prison hostage situation
We turn now to newly released images of the dramatic prison standoff in Indiana. An inmate trying to escape, taking a librarian hostage with a hand-made blade. Tonight here, the surveillance video. Can you hear the officers in the middle of all of this, and what the librarian is able to do. Here’s ABC’s Clayton Sandell. Reporter: Timothy monk didn’t come to this prison library for research. Officials say he wanted a hostage. Pulling a makeshift knife on librarian Allen Hartzell. Hartzell fights back, hitting monk with a face full of pepper spray. Just keep him talking. Reporter: Responding officers sneak a phone into the room. Set this phone on the ledge over there behind the wall. It’s recording. I told him, Me, I’m going to show you how bad I am. Reporter: Finally, that pepper spray is too much. Sick to your stomach? Yeah? Reporter: A distraction long enough for an explosive takedown. After two and a half hours, the librarian is safe. Monk back in chains. Today, 19 Arizona corrections staffers were recognized for stopping monk, including a medal of valor for the librarian. Monk is facing new charges for this December incident, but even before this, he was in prison for other crimes, serving a sentence of 97 years. David? Clayton Sandell tonight. Clayton, thank you.
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