HACKENSACK — Authorities have charged an inmate with aggravated assault after a February jailhouse attack that left the son of a famous reggae star in a coma.
The inmate, Kyrie Charon Baum, was being held at the Bergen County Jail on robbery and handgun possession charges out of Fort Lee when he viciously attacked Jawara McIntosh, son of the late reggae icon Peter Tosh, according to a prepared statement from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office released early Friday evening.
The Feb. 21 assault, which happened in a general custody housing unit, lasted less than 10 seconds, the release said. Though it was quickly broken up by Sheriff’s Officers, McIntosh suffered traumatic brain injuries and was immediately brought to the Hackensack University Medical Center, it said.
“Although the Bergen County Jail has an extremely low violence rate, I extend my thoughts to the family of Mr. McIntosh during this difficult time,” Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino said in the statement.
The Sheriff’s Office made the charges against Baum public a day after the Associated Press reported that McIntosh’s family filed a notice that they intended to sue Bergen County and the sheriff.
William Schievella, the sheriff’s spokesman, declined to comment about why the assault wasn’t made public earlier. But he said the Sheriff referred the case to Prosecutor’s Office immediately after the assault.
“While assaults in the Bergen County jail are very unusual, they do occur from time to time in a correctional setting,” Schievella said.
The Sheriff’s Office has been unable to find a reason for Baum’s attack, Schievella said.
Baum has already been indicted by a Grand Jury for the assault, the sheriff said.
McIntosh’s father, Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican-born musician and marijuana activist who started the Wailers along with Bob Marley.
A Rastafarian like his father, McIntosh was serving a six-month sentence on pot possession charges after police arrested him in June 2013 with more than 65 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of his rental car.
McIntosh, a pro-marijuana activist, remains in a Boston hospital, unresponsive and comatose. His family has lamented the lack of information about the beating.
On Thursday, attorney Jasmine Rand said the family had filed notice that it plans to sue Bergen County, and is calling for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate.
The Sheriff’s Office said Friday the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit was notified because of the severity of McIntosh’s injuries.
Email: janoski@northjersey.com
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