By Missy Wilkinson
The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate
NEW ORLEANS — A fire last month in the Orleans Justice Center that led to the evacuation of an entire jail pod resulted in counts of aggravated arson for two inmates who allegedly started the blaze using a pile of mattresses, jumpsuits, blankets and Styrofoam plates.
According to court records, Derrick Clayton, 24, and Jarick S. Bourgeois Jr., 19, were each booked with 73 counts of aggravated arson after a June 9 blaze that represented another early test for Orleans Parish Sheriff Michelle Woodfork.
On June 14, Magistrate Commissioner Jay Daniels found probable cause for one count of aggravated arson against each defendant and set bond at $75,000 apiece.
The incident led to one patient being taken by EMS to a hospital. It also resulted in staff relocating all inmates assigned to Pod 3E of the jail to a first-floor classroom.
The incident occurred less than two months after Woodfork took over leadership of the troubled jail from former Sheriff Susan Hutson.
“The investigation has been completed and the matter has been referred to the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution,” Woodfork said in a statement. “As this is now a pending criminal matter, the Sheriff’s Office will have no further comment at this time.”
Also in June, Woodfork’s deputies responded to an inmate stabbing another inmate with a homemade weapon, forcing an evacuation and a shakedown of the housing unit.
Fear of attack
According to court documents, Clayton allegedly told deputies he set the fire in Pod E3 to protect himself after multiple inmates threatened to assault or stab him.
“Clayton advised that he participated in the act out of fear for his personal safety and concerns for potential retaliation from other inmates,” an NOPD arrest report states.
According to the report, Clayton did not provide investigators with the names, cell assignments or physical descriptions of the inmates he claimed had threatened him. Convicted of battery of a correctional officer in 2021, Clayton had been awaiting trial on multiple charges, including possession with intent to distribute tapentadol, simple burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and identity theft, court records show.
Bourgeois was awaiting trial on two counts of attempted second-degree murder, one count of aggravated criminal damage to property and one count of discharging a firearm during a violent crime.
Investigators said Clayton admitted to gathering combustible materials “from various locations throughout the housing unit” and piling them at the base of a rear stairwell.
Clayton allegedly passed a lit paper wick to Bourgeois through the trap door of Bourgeois’ mezzanine-level cell. Investigators say that after several unsuccessful attempts, the two ignited an orange jumpsuit that Clayton carried downstairs and used to set the debris pile ablaze, “causing a substantial fire.”
“At the time the fire was set, all inmates assigned to 3 Echo were secured within their cells and were unable to evacuate the housing unit without staff intervention,” the report said. “The resulting fire produced significant smoke and created a foreseeable risk of serious bodily injury or death to the inmates and staff present within the facility.”
It’s not clear how many inmates were in the pod at the time of the fire. A pod in the jail can house approximately 60 inmates.
New Orleans EMS Capt. Bill Salmeron said one person was transported to a hospital for treatment. The New Orleans Fire Department said it had no record of responding to the jail on that date, according to spokesperson Lauren Maiden.
At a June 29 meeting of the New Orleans City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee, Sheriff Michelle Woodfork presented her first Quarterly Public Safety & Operations Update since taking office in May.
The report didn’t mention the June 9 fire, nor was it discussed during the meeting. Woodfork discussed efforts to harden the jail, including an ongoing upgrade of the cell door and locking system.
“The only way we are going to bring down assaults at the jail is to hire more staff and, of course, look at the infrastructure of the jail,” Woodfork said. “Right now our priority definitely is to shore up this building.”
If convicted of aggravated arson, Bourgeois and Clayton face up to 20 years imprisonment at hard labor.
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