10 injured in Arizona prison riot
ELOY, ARIZ. » Officials with a privately run prison near Eloy are continuing to investigate a riot at the Red Rock Correctional Center, where about 50 Hawaii inmates are housed.
Initial reports were that Hawaii inmates were not involved in the riot.
A news release issued yesterday by Corrections Corporation of America said facility staff has identified 43 inmates who are believed to have been involved in the incident.
The prison was locked down and inmates were in administrative segregation pending further investigation and disciplinary action.
Ten inmates were injured and seven inmates were transported off-site for treatment of injuries. One inmate remained hospitalized yesterday for a non-life-threatening injury. No staff members were hurt.
Eloy police said the disturbance occurred during Thursday afternoon’s lunch hour at the Red Rock Correctional Facility. They said the riot was in an area of the prison that houses only California inmates.
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It is unclear what triggered the riot. Prison staff used pepper spray and ended the disturbance within 10 minutes.
Red Rock Correctional Center is owned by Corrections Corporation of America and houses male inmates from California and Hawaii and detainees of the U.S. Marshals Serv-ice.
CCA managers along with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation investigators are investigating the disturbance.
There are 50 Hawaii inmates at the Red Rock Correctional Center and 1,870 at the Saguaro Correctional Center in Arizona. Both facilities are in Eloy and run by CCA.
Earlier this month, Gov. Neil Abercrombie pledged to bring back all Hawaii inmates serving sentences on the mainland.
Abercrombie’s statements followed a lawsuit filed in Circuit Court in Hawaii alleging mistreatment of inmates at Saguaro.
Earlier this year the public safety department sent a team to examine practices at Saguaro after deaths of two Hawaii inmates in February and June. Three inmates, all from Hawaii, have been charged in the deaths and could face the death penalty if convicted in Arizona.
