An inmate at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center was flown to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center today after suffering a serious head injury during a prison fight on Monday.

Scott McDonald, 45, and his cellmate, Kenneth Smith, got into a fight shortly after 7 a.m., according to the state Department of Corrections (DOC). Prison staff found McDonald unconscious and bleeding from a head wound, according to Maria Peterson, a spokeswoman for the DOC.

McDonald was taken to Kadlec Medical Center, in Tri-Cities, then flown to Seattle. Smith, 32, has been moved into solitary confinement.

"The Department will aggressively investigate this incident will work collaboratively with local law enforcement and prosecutors to assure that those involved are held responsible for this terrible act," prisons Director Dick Morgan said in a news release.

Smith could be subject to a prison disciplinary sanction and state criminal charges, Peterson said. Fighting is a serious infraction which can result in the loss of earned time, loss of privileges and additional time in solitary confinement. DOC staff and Connell police are investigating the fight.

Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, in Connell, houses 765 minimum- and medium-custody offenders.

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