Inmate gets 50-to-100-year sentence for attempted murder of troopers in Indiana County

A 21-year-old man will serve 50 to 100 years in prison for the attempted murder of two state troopers last year while they were driving him back to the state prison in Indiana County.

Indiana County President Judge William J. Martin imposed the sentence Monday on Simere Maurice Alford. In September, a jury found Alford guilty of assault and attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, assault by a prisoner, disarming a law enforcement officer, reckless endangerment, attempted escape and resisting arrest. He also was convicted of robbery, theft, illegal possession of a firearm and institutional vandalism.

According to state police, Alford seized a gun from one of the troopers and fired it twice on June 24, 2019, as they were driving him from a district court hearing back to the Pine Grove state prison in White Township.

The troopers, who weren’t identified by police, and Alford all were treated and released at Indiana Regional Medical Center following the scuffle.

Investigators determined that Alford was able to manipulate a leather transport belt that restrained him in the rear seat of the police vehicle. “It was loosened to the point where he was able to lunge forward and reach between the front seats,” said state police spokesman Trooper Cliff Greenfield.

Though still in handcuffs and leg restraints, Alford was able to grab the gun from holster of a male trooper who was driving. The first shot the prisoner fired barely missed the trooper’s head, according to Greenfield. He said a second round, fired as the trooper grabbed the weapon, struck Alford’s left leg and foot and lodged in the frame of the vehicle.

An airbag deployed as the vehicle crashed into a guardrail, Greenfield said. A female trooper who was a front-seat passenger exited the vehicle and opened the rear passenger door, he said. The gun dropped to the ground as the male trooper and Alford came through that door; the male trooper was able to restrain the prisoner against the ground until another trooper arrived and helped secure the scene, Greenfield said.

The male trooper suffered minor injuries while the female trooper fractured her left arm. Both soon returned to duty at the Indiana County barracks, Greenfield said.

According to court documents, Alford is awaiting trail on a separate charge of aggravated harassment by a prisoner, stemming from an incident on Feb. 25, 2019.

Online court records show he was sentenced to 13 to 40 years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to third-degree murder, endangering the welfare of children and other charges.

Philadelphia police arrested Alford in May 2017 and charged him with attempted murder after choking his 7-year-old sister. The attack left the girl in critical condition, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.