I’m not a sexist by any stretch of the imagination, but there is virtually no woman who can physically control just about any man, never mind the fact that way too many custodial officers are grossly overweight and out of shape.
Like I said, it was mostly the fault of the dysfunctional Fulton County sheriff's office. They had had several warnings that this guy was dangerous (including a previous escape attempt and the discovery of a shank in his cell), which they ignored. The judge had requested extra guards on the man (he was ignored too). The female deputy was old (58), overweight, and according to a friend of mine (who was pistol-whipped by the defendant) borderline retarded. The deputies who were supposed to be monitoring the closed circuit TV all went to get breakfast, leaving the monitors unattended. And nobody answered the panic alarm in the judge's chambers.
Needless to say, there are several multi-million dollar lawsuits against the county going forward.
But the point is, sometimes if somebody appears to be a bit off kilter, and the judge doesn't at least shackle him, it can be dangerous.