New Castle, Ind. – About 500 inmates staged a two-hour riot at a medium-security men’s prison Tuesday, injuring two staff members and setting fires in a courtyard before officials used tear gas to restore order.
Authorities were investigating whether the riot at the New Castle Correctional Facility started because new prisoners from Arizona were upset about their treatment.
Two staff members and seven inmates suffered minor injuries. The riot involved inmates from both states, and none escaped, officials said.
Indiana Department of Correction spokeswoman Java Ahmed said more than one cell house was involved in the disturbance at the prison east of Indianapolis.
Prison guard Larry Savage said he, two guards and three maintenance workers barricaded themselves in a room as dozens of inmates tried to break in before a prison response team arrived about 15 minutes later.
“They were wrapped up in masks, with sticks, knives, shanks,” Savage said of the inmates. “They were just flexing their muscles and they wanted to show that they could take the prison over at any time, and that’s what they did.”
Correction Commissioner J. David Donahue said the riot began after a group of inmates from Arizona took off their shirts in the prison’s recreation area to show staff they wouldn’t comply with orders. They had been told to keep the shirts on.
The prison, built in 2002, can house about 2,200. It currently has about 1,000 prisoners from Indiana and 630 from Arizona.
Donahue said he has delayed the transfer of another 600 inmates from Arizona.
Some of the newly arrived inmates had complained about a lack of recreation and other programs, said Trina Randall, a spokeswoman for GEO Group Inc., the Boca Raton, Fla.-based company that manages the prison.
Donahue said neither staff member suffered serious injuries. The inmates’ injuries involved tear gas exposure and minor cuts.
