The 29-year-old attacked a fellow inmate while in custody for trying to stab her boyfriend in Bethlehem, court records say.
An inmate in Northampton County Prison, accused of trying to stab her boyfriend in Bethlehem, faces new charges for allegedly assaulting a fellow inmate last month.
Yania Rivera-Ortiz, 29, was arraigned today before District Judge Elizabeth Romig-Gainer in Easton on charges of simple assault and harassment in the alleged March 30 assault.
Rivera-Ortiz ran about 4:30 p.m. from a multipurpose room in the Easton prison and punched fellow inmate Lillian Santiago in the head, which was witnessed by a corrections officer, records say. Santiago suffered a bruised chin, cut to her neck and a cut to a nostril, records say.
Santiago, 51, was in prison March 19 until April 18 for driving under suspension, records say.
Romig-Gainer sent Rivera-Ortiz back to the prison in lieu of $15,000 bail. Rivera-Ortiz faces formal arraignment May 2 in Northampton County Court on a simple assault charge in the alleged assault of her boyfriend, Luis Resto-Martinez, with a 10-inch kitchen knife following an argument Dec. 16 in Bethlehem.