By Stacia Glenn
The News Tribune
FIFE, Wash. — A 24-year-old Fife inmate said he was just trying to fix a sprinkler head in a holding cell when it broke and flooded the jail Tuesday.
Pierce County prosecutors see it differently, and have charged him with one count of malicious mischief. The man was released on his own recognizance. It’s unclear what landed him in the city jail to begin with.
An officer in charge of booking incoming inmates heard a “whoosh” about 2:30 a.m. and went to investigate. He found the metal protective cover over one of the fire-suppression sprinklers had been broken off and water was flowing into the holding cells.
Police transferred several inmates to a single cell while using blankets to prevent water from entering the others.
Full story: Inmate allegedly breaks spinkler, floods Fife jail