On Feb. 6, a riot at the St. Louis, Missouri, prison involved hundreds of inmates who set fires around the prison, damaged plumbing fixtures as well as glass windows, and threw interior furniture outside the prison. The riot was stopped only after hours of efforts by dozens of law enforcement officers.
About 115 inmates were involved in the prison riot, said Jacob Long, a spokesman for the St. Louis mayor, who described the behavior as “extremely violent and insubordinate.
On the same day, a prison correctional officer was attacked and treated at the hospital, and no inmates were injured.
Reports indicate that some inmates stood on broken glass on the fourth floor and threw items such as bicycles, chairs and mattresses onto the sidewalk below, some of which caught fire. Firefighters were nearby to put out the fire.
The prison authorities did not release an estimate of the cost damage, but said the damage was quite extensive.
“There were some burn marks on the front of the building. They damaged the inside of the floor and threw various things outside. The jail floor was flooded and (inmates) blocked the toilets and blocked the drains, so that caused flooding.”
Jimmie Edwards, the city’s director of public safety, said one of the problems that led to the mess was the discovery by jail inmates of a faulty door lock that allowed inmates to tamper with the lock to get themselves out of their cells. Local media reports say officials have been dealing with the problem since December.
Two riots had already broken out at the St. Louis jail in late December and early January, when dozens of inmates were moved from the St. Louis City Justice Center. Law enforcement has had conversations with the prosecutor’s office following the outbreak of the current riot, which could leave some facing additional charges.
Spokesman Long said the prison riot came from excessive stress during the outbreak, although none of the 633 inmates in the prison are currently infected with the outbreak.
“They are equally stressed,” he said, adding that “the court has not yet heard the case in the 22nd Judicial Circuit. Their Family visits are restricted. But they’re also on the move, and that’s what’s going on right now.”
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