By Ralph Bartholdt
Lewiston Tribune
LEWISTON, Idaho — Two staff members were injured during a blowup between inmates at the Lewiston juvenile correctional facility.
Police responded at 7:40 p.m. Tuesday to the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections Juvenile Correction Center at 140 Southport Ave. in the Lewiston Orchards after receiving a report of a riot.
When the three police officers arrived 10 minutes later, Lewiston Fire Department medics were already on the scene and being ushered into the facility, police said.
Staff member Terry Crowe complained of rib pain, and staff member Sylva Albrecht complained of a wrist injury, police said. The two staff members were taken to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, where they were treated and released. When police arrived, the juvenile prisoners had been locked in their rooms.
“By the time we got there and found out what we had, it was over,” Lewiston Police Lt. Budd Hurd said.
Staff members asked police to stand by as medics tended to the injured staff members, according to a police report. As officers waited inside the facility, staff members tried calming a 15-year-old inmate who yelled from his room.
“While we were standing on one wing where the problem had started, we continually heard one of the inmates screaming and yelling that it was his fault that the riot almost started,” according to a police report.
Police issued no citations, and took no further action, Hurd said.
The Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections is investigating the incident, which started as a fight between two juveniles, Department of Correction spokesman Jeffrey Ray said.
“The Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections is reviewing an incident in which two IDJC staff members suffered minor injuries while breaking up an altercation between two juveniles at the Juvenile Corrections Center-Lewiston,” according to a news release.
When the incident blew up, staff members quickly jumped in to quell the altercation, Ray said.
” in the course of doing so, one became short of breath. Another said she had suffered a possible wrist injury,” according to the department.
One of the staff members, when requesting medical assistance, told a police dispatcher of a “mini riot” at the facility. Ray said staff members later said no “mini riot” occurred.
Those staff members said the altercation and the staff’s response to it are relatively common occurrences at a juvenile corrections center, Ray said.
“Further, the staff members said at the time the 911 call was made, the altercation was over and the facility was operating normally,” according to the news release.
Ray said that the department requires a review of staff response to incidents in which staff members restrain juveniles.
The Lewiston facility houses 36 juveniles between ages 13 and 21 who are considered medium- to high-risk male offenders, according to the department.