SWAT team puts end to jail riot

Inmates in two cell blocks rioted Friday morning at Warren County Jail, leaving thousands of dollars in damage and at least one lawman injured during the three-hour standoff.

‘What we had was seven or eight inmates stirring it up in the C and D pods,’ said sheriff’s chief deputy Danice Taylor. ‘We have everything on tape so investigators will be reviewing the video and will be taking out charges, some likely felonies, against those who were behind this.’

According to Taylor, the inmates, all of whom were locked in their cells, conducted a concerted riot where they damaged jail property such as the sprinkler system.

‘They would use towels to pull off the sprinkler heads from their cells and try to flood the jail,’ Taylor said. ‘We were able to shut the water off before there was too much damage. They also tore up mattresses and caused about $1,500 in damage, mostly cosmetic.’

Taylor said inmates used plastic bottles filled with water to hurl at guards when they tried to squelch the unrest, prompting the county’s SWAT team to be summoned

‘Folks don’t realize some of the people we have locked up out here. Some of them will kill you,’ Taylor said, noting the SWAT team entered the cell block and restored order cell by cell.

‘They used flashbangs and went in. Most of the inmates gave up when they saw them in their helmets and gear coming in,’ Taylor said. ‘They were able to restore order without having to harm any inmates or use Tasers or pepper spray. We did have one officer who was bitten by an inmate and is having to get shots and blood work.’

The SWAT team maneuver took about an hour since they had to go in the separate cells to remove the instigators, all of whom are now being held separate from the general population.

‘We are having to pay overtime to bring in officers to guard these inmates because they are being held in a separate part of the jail,’ Taylor said, noting the entire episode likely lasted about three hours.

As for the instigators, Taylor said it was younger inmates, who he estimates will get an education on life when they land in the state penitentiary.

‘The older prisoners who had done time in the pen weren’t any trouble. It was the young ones who were behind this,’ Taylor said. ‘I think they will have some rough lessons to learn when they get up to the state pen.’

Taylor said intelligence there had led authorities to believe something had been building within the population leading up to the riot. However, Taylor said he is unsure what sparked the timing. The riot is the first at the new facility and is the first significant incident since a major riot about eight years ago at the old facility which had to be forcibly settled.