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| Repairs Needed in California Prison |
| By The Daily Bulletin |
| Published: 10/03/2005 |
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Inmates have returned to a housing unit at the California Institution for Men where a riot last week caused damage requiring several days of repairs. Some of the roughly 200 prisoners involved in the riot smashed windows, destroyed cell doors, dismantled light fixtures and pulled toilets out of the floor, said Lt. Tim Shirlock, a prison spokesman. The fight in the prison's Reception Center-East facility began as inmates were returning to their cells from the dining hall the night of Sept. 22. It then spread onto the tiers of Butte Hall, where other inmates were still in their cells, Shirlock said. Because there were so many prisoners involved in the fight, the officers in the tiers left their stations, taking the keys to the cell doors so that inmates couldn't let anyone out. Two correctional staff were left behind inside the tier: One, an officer on the upper level, was extracted through a hatch on the roof and suffered a minor back injury, Shirlock said. Officers got the facility under control by using "a lot" of pepper spray and tear gas, Shirlock said, and eight inmates were sent to local hospitals. Two remain at outside facilities; the others have returned to CIM. Officials with the correctional officers union blamed the riot on understaffing at the prison. Mike Jimenez, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said officers in the housing unit were outnumbered by inmates 75 to 1. As of last Wednesday, 150 inmates had returned to Butte Hall, Shirlock said. Prison officials were keeping 25 beds open so that repairs could be completed on a handful of cells. Also, investigators were interviewing prisoners to determine what caused the riot and which inmates should be disciplined. |
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