Jail disturbance involves 21

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By Mcalester News Capital

Published: 10/18/2004

Officers from the Department of Corrections and the McAlester Police Department converged on the Pittsburg County (Okla.) Jail Tuesday to help quell a disturbance after inmates set fire to toilet paper and threw water in the cell run.
Twenty-one inmates were involved in the incident, said Pittsburg County Sheriff Jerome "Snookie" Amaranto. No injuries were reported among the law enforcement officers or the inmates, according to Amaranto. The inmates now may face additional charges.
"We're going to send the information to the district attorney's office," Amaranto said. Things were back to normal yesterday."
It was nice and quiet this morning," Amaranto said.
Inmates in the trustee cell tank and in the cell tank called "Mexico" were involved in the incident, the sheriff said. Cell tanks hold groups of prisoners, as opposed to having inmates in individual cells.
Amaranto said the incident began after some of the inmates didn't like what they were served for breakfast on Tuesday. Other inmates, who were sentenced to terms with the Department of Corrections, were angry because they were ready to leave the jail and begin serving their state sentences, the sheriff said.
As the disturbance continued, some inmates began setting fire to toilet paper and throwing it in the run, he said. Other inmates began throwing water into the cell run, he said.
Amaranto said the emergency response teams from the nearby Jackie Brannon Correctional Center and Oklahoma State Penitentiary were summoned to the jail. Members of the McAlester Police Department also arrived to help sheriff's deputies.
The officers entered the run and told the inmates to come out of the tanks one at a time, the sheriff said. The inmates complied without resistance, he said.

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