An argument in the Warren County Prison escalated into a violent incident that resulted in a felony charge for a man already sentenced to serve time in state prison.

As the Times Observer reporter recently, Cody S. Phinney, 33, was charged Dec. 19 by Warren city police with aggravated assault – attempts to cause serious bodily injury or causes injury with extreme indifference, a class 1 felony, simple assault and harassment – subjecting another to physical contact for incidents that allegedly happened Dec. 10.

Phinney’s address is listed as the Warren County Prison, indicating he had not yet been transferred to a state correctional institute.

The Affidavit of Probable Cause indicates the incident began at 5 p.m. Dec. 9, when video surveillance in the jail shows Phinney arguing with another inmate in the jail before Phinney walked away toward a bathroom area. At 5:08 p.m., Phinney allegedly left the bathroom and approached the other inmate again. That’s when the incident became violent, according to the affidavit.

“The defendant punches the victim in the right side of his face with his right fist, to which the victim falls to the ground,” the affidavit states. “It is showed on the prison video surveillance the defendant punches the victim an additional eight times before another inmate intervenes.”

Photographs taken by Warren County Prison staff on Dec. 9 show the other inmate with a swollen bruise next to his right eye, allegedly the result of Phinney’s first punch, as well as a swollen left elbow sustained when he fell to the ground. According to the police report, the second man needed surgery to repair his injured left elbow while the victim also fractured his left radial head and radial neck.

Phinney had been charged in June after a methamphetamine raid on a trailer in Clarendon. Phinney was sentenced in October to 5 to 10 months in a state correctional institution and 1 to 2 months in prison to run consecutively after being found guilty of fraudulently altering, forging or counterfeiting title, registration and insurance information and possession of drug paraphernalia to satisfy one set of charges against him filed by the Warren Police Department.

Phinney then was sentenced to 2 to 4 months to run consecutively to his first sentence for a charge of fleeing/attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, and two terms of 6 to 12 months to run consecutively for convictions of recklessly endangering another person.

Phinney was then sentenced to 1 to 2 months to run consecutively for reckless driving, a fine for violations of stop sign and yield sign laws and fines for driving an unregistered vehicle, required financial responsibility and operating a vehicle without a valid inspection.

The final set of charges resulted in 2 to 6 months in prison to run consecutively after a conviction for DUI: controlled substances, 3 to 6 months after a conviction for possessing/selling/using display documents and fines for operating a vehicle without valid inspection, careless driving, driving while under suspension and driving an unregistered vehicle.