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| Teen climbs tower in standoff at prison |
| By East Brunswick Sentinel |
| Published: 05/17/2004 |
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An inmate at the juvenile New Jersey prison climbed a water tower on the site and spent six hours on its 135-foot-high catwalk before authorities talked him down. The 18-year-old resident of the New Jersey Training School for Boys had been scheduled for transfer to a state Department of Corrections adult prison in the next few months, and the standoff was an attempt to avoid his transfer to that facility, said state Juvenile Justice Commission spokeswoman Sharon Lachaire. The incident began about 9 a.m. May 5 when the man, who last resided in Camden County, was on his way to a classroom. Officials said he had removed boards along the bottom 20 feet of the tower's leg supports and managed to climb one of the legs, even though the ladder rungs had been severed at the bottom. The safety measures had been taken years ago in an effort to prevent someone from climbing the tower, Lachaire said. "He broke through the wood," she said. Officials said training school Chief Oveston Cox was among the first to notice the youth and established communications with him in an effort to keep him calm. Local law enforcement, firefighters and rescue workers as well as the state Technical Emergency and Mission Specialists (TEAMS) soon arrived at the scene to aid in negotiations and rescue efforts. TEAMS member Sgt. Jeff Algor said the teen, who had taken strips of torn bed sheet up with him, was relatively calm and was communicating with officials. The man requested a cell phone, cigarettes and water, Algor said. He attached his jacket to the torn bed sheet and lowered it down to allow officials to place cigarettes, a two-way radio and water in the jacket. Cox and Detective Brian Hoar of the state's hostage negotiating team continued to try to convince the man to allow officials to rescue him. Within an hour of the exchange, the teen decided to come down, following news of an approaching thunderstorm Algor went up in a fire truck aerial ladder to assist the youth with harness ropes, and a safe climb into the bucket, which Algor said did not quite reach the catwalk height. Lachaire said the man told officials that the reason he climbed the water tower was because he did not want to be transferred to the adult facility. Though youths routinely stay at the training center into their early 20s, at times a transfer is recommended, Lachaire said. Inmates are usually moved if they have a lengthy sentence, or if officials feel the person is not a good influence on the rest of the residents there. |
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