05/18/16    Ouachita County Intake Officer And An Inmate Facing Charges

A Ouachita County jail intake officer and an inmate at the jail have been charged with multiple felonies by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the 13^th Judicial District..Phillip A. Stone.

Stone charged 23 year Nicole L. Ferguson, a jail intake officer at the Ouachita County Detention Center with four counts of escape and furnishing an implement and sexual assault.

An inmate, identified as Joe Cook was charged with four counts of 2^nd degree escape and possession of a prohibited item. According to the report file by Ouachita County investigators, on February 24 of this year, inmate Cook and Ferguson got into a physical altercation at the booking desk of the jail. During the course of an investigation of the incident, Ferguson told investigators that Cook had a cell phone in his cell and called her and made threats toward her. She immediately quit her job and left the jail. Investigators searched Cook's cell and found some “Bahama Ma Ma” wine  coolers. During an interview, Cook admitted leaving jail four times with Ferguson, he said he'd walk into the woods behind the Sheriff's office and Ferguson would pick him up and they'd go to El Dorado.