Inmate talked out of jumping from prison water tower

It’s a familiar scene on newscasts in the big cities of North America: that is a troubled individual stands atop a tall building and threatens to end his life by jumping. Well, today that drama was duplicated on the grounds of Hattieville Prison, where a desperate inmate climbed the facility’s water tower. News Five’s Kendra Griffith was among the crowd on the ground.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
When News Five arrived at the scene around two of clock, the inmate had been on the tower for almost an hour and someone was already climbing up to try and talk him down from his perch. An ambulance and medical personnel were also standing by at the reservoir?s base in case the man made good on his promise to jump.

Friends and family of inmates who were inside that prison at the time, said they realised something was wrong when they were suddenly told by guards they that had to leave immediately. Persons who arrived later were refused entrance into the compound.

John Woods, Chairman, Kolbe Foundation
?I got a call this afternoon that he had broken free from a work gang and climbed the tower and he was threatening to jump off, and he was really tripping out. He was on top of the tower that was maybe forty, fifty feet off the ground. And they were scared that if he did jump he could do some serious damage to himself.?

Prison Chair John Woods would not confirm the man?s identity, but sources tell News Five that he is Joseph Budna. Budna is serving a ten year sentence for the February 2000 aggravated assault and unnatural crime against a fourteen year old boy in Orange Walk.

Kendra Griffith
?Did he give any reason why he climbed up in the first place??

John Woods
?Oh yeah, he?s got all kinds of reasons, they disrespect him, he?s badly treated, all that kinds of stuff, nobody?s paying any attention to him. So basically this was a good attention getter for him.?

In addition to those complaints, we were told that Budna also complained of being sexually assaulted and on several instances was shouting that he was tired of the abuse.

Woods, who says the prisoner is no stranger to him, joined Budna at the top of the tower and spoke to him for over twenty minutes. Whatever he said seems to have worked and at approximately 3:15 Budna started his descent.

John Woods
?One of the counsellors, Mr. Nicholson, was up there talking to him and then I went up and talked to him and we kinda?once he quit tripping out, once he calmed down a little bit then we were able to talk to him and agreed that we should come down and start the whole process again, see if we could make a difference, positive difference in his life.?

Woods says the next step is to now get professional help for the troubled inmate.

John Woods
?I?ll try and get better counselling for him. I?ll spend some time in there with him. He?s got his brother in there who he likes very, very much and his sister-in-law and we?re sitting in there, kinda talking about things. Then hopefully we can get some more professional help, maybe get Father Stochl to check with him in the morning and then see if we can?t get some psychiatric help through further counselling.?

Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.