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| Lockdown continues after uprising at Kentucky prison |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 09/16/2004 |
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A privately operated prison in eastern Kentucky was under a security clamp Wednesday and inmates were doubled up in cells, a day after prisoners torched three buildings during an uprising. The medium-security Lee Adjustment Center at Beattyville was on "lockdown" following a disturbance that erupted as inmates milled around a recreation yard Tuesday night. It took about three hours for prison officials to restore order. Beattyville Police Chief Steve Mays said smoke was billowing and inmates were yelling and throwing rocks at a Kentucky State Police trooper when Mays arrived to provide backup. "It was chaos when I first got up there," Mays said Wednesday. Prison officers quelled the uprising while police agencies from nearby counties provided backup outside and guarded against escapes. Two inmates were treated for severe cuts to their fingers, prison officials said. No prison workers were injured, officials said. The prison is owned and run by Corrections Corporation of America, based in Nashville, Tenn. It houses about 800 men _ half from Kentucky and the rest from Vermont _ under a contract between that state and CCA. CCA dispatched about 30 specially trained correctional officers to bolster security at the prison, company spokeswoman Louise Chickering said in a phone interview. State police and CCA officials were interviewing inmates who were in the recreation yards when the uprising began. The disturbance flared up about 7:15 p.m. EDT Tuesday during a regular recreation period for inmates, Chickering said. At the time, up to 150 prisoners were in the outside recreation yard. Prisoners set fire to two dormitories and an administrative building. Smoke and water damaged the administrative building and a dorm housing about 325 inmates, Chickering said. Both buildings were closed Wednesday. Inmates also broke windows and light fixtures in the dorm and damaged toilets and sinks, Chickering said. Prisoners from the dorm were assigned to double up with other prisoners, she said. The administrative building sustained an undetermined amount of damage inside, she said. The fire in the other dorm was contained quickly, and the dorm was reopened to inmates, she said. Officials suspect that the fires were started by matches, she said. Smoking is permitted at designated outdoor areas on the prison grounds. Meanwhile, prison and law enforcement officials on Wednesday targeted nine inmates as suspected instigators and said the nine could face arson and other charges. The uprising apparently started when the nine, from both states, tried unsuccessfully to tear down a manned, wooden officer tower in the recreation yard, prison officials said. Other inmates joined in and the fires were set. |
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The medium-security Lee Adjustment Center at Beattyville was on "lockdown" following a disturbance that erupted as inmates milled around a recreation yard Tuesday night. It took about three hours for prison officials to restore order, nice part of article.Cheap Flights Islamabad to Karachi