BOSTON -- Rhode Island prison officials said a man accused of killing a police detective allegedly attacked three corrections officers Tuesday night, sending one to the hospital with a cracked jaw.

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Gail Huff Reports On Attack

NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that Esteban Carpio, 26, held for the murder of Detective Sgt. James Allen, allegedly assaulted the three officers -- who do not carry guns -- breaking one officer's jaw and cracking his eye socket and a vertebrae. Another suffered a hyperextended thumb and a third was spit on, officials said.

Carpio's case garnered national attention last week when he appeared in a courtroom April 18 on the murder charge and had apparently been severely beaten. He was wearing a plastic "spit mask."

His family was enraged and, prompted by a request from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the FBI began an investigation into charges of police brutality. Providence's police chief said he had no indication excessive force had been used in Carpio's arrest. Carpio's family said he is mentally ill.

Now, Carpio is accused of attacking the three officers inside his segregation cell at the Cranston, R.I., prison where he is being held. A prison spokeswoman said the officers were called to Carpio's cell around dinnertime because he was "acting up." They used pepper spray and shields to restrain Carpio.