By Cary Aspinwall
Tulsa World
HOLDENVILLE — A rash of gang fights Sunday involving at least 20 inmates in three housing units at the Davis Correctional Center ended with guards using pepper spray to secure the prison and five inmates transported to hospitals.
The Davis facility is operated by Corrections Corporations of America, a private prison contractor.
In a series of three fights that broke out starting about 1:40 p.m. Sunday, members of the Indian Brotherhood gang faced off with inmates affiliated with various Crips gangs, using crudely fashioned prison weapons to injure each other, records show.
The first fight began in the Charlie North unit’s day room, with five members of the Indian Brotherhood physically brawling with six members of the Crips, according to incident reports.
Corrections officers spotted the fight and ordered one inmate with a handmade weapon and another armed with a mop handle to drop their weapons. One of the inmates refused, and officers used pepper spray to gain control of the feuding inmates.
Two of the inmates suffered injuries severe enough to be transported from local hospitals to the University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City, according to incident reports. Officers confiscated at least six weapons afterward.
About five minutes later, another fight broke out in the Alpha South unit involving three inmates affiliated with the Indian Brotherhood and two affiliated with the Crips.
Two of the inmates involved were transported to local hospitals for treatment, and two more weapons were seized.
About five minutes later, a third fight broke out in the Bravo South unit when five prisoners affiliated with the Indian Brotherhood rushed into the cell of two Crips members, carrying weapons. Prison personnel broke up the fight and secured the inmates.
The staff response was immediate, and the altercations were quickly resolved, CCA spokesman Mike Machak said.
Following standard procedures, officials with local law enforcement agencies and the state Department of Corrections were notified, he said.
There were no staff injuries and the prison remains on lockdown, meaning inmates are restricted to their cells with escorted movement only.
The incident report indicates that the fights started as “continued aggressive action” between the two gangs that initiated at other Department of Corrections’ facilities and that there have been previous altercations at Davis between those gangs.
In March, CCA officials declined to call a four-hour disturbance at the Cushing prison they operate a riot, even though inmates smashed windows, breached security doors and were pepper-sprayed after they fashioned weapons from destroyed property, records show.
CCA officials characterized the incident as “inmates being disruptive in one of the housing units.”
The inmates involved were prisoners of the Puerto Rican government that CCA supervised under a contract.