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Officials: Riot injures 2 COs at Fla. juvenile detention center

A spokeswoman said juveniles took keys from a staff member, pulled televisions off walls and refused commands

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The detention center is a 60-bed state facility that serves youth detained by various circuit courts pending adjudication, disposition or placement in a commitment facility.

Photo/Florida Department of Juvenile Justice

By Patricio G. Balona
The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Sheriff’s Office said late Sunday investigators were still trying to figure out what caused nine juveniles at the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center to go into riot mode and injure two detention officers.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Laura Williams said the detention staff members suffered minor cuts and abrasions in the 30-minute melee reported at 12:07 p.m. at the facility in Daytona Beach.

“Just after noon today, the Sheriff’s Office responded to a ‘riot situation’ at 3840 Old DeLand Road, Daytona Beach, at the Department of Juvenile Justice,” Williams said.

None of the juvenile inmates, from ages 13 to 18, were injured and they were all charged with felonies, she said.

Dispatchers started sending deputies to the detention center after reports that from 9 to 12 juveniles were in a fight and had locked themselves up with staff members at the facility.

Dispatchers informed responding deputies that the juveniles were using trays from the cafeteria as weapons.

She said juveniles occupying a common area of the facility took keys from a staff member, pulled televisions off walls and refused commands to return to their cells.

The detention center is a 60-bed state facility that serves youth detained by various circuit courts pending adjudication, disposition or placement in a commitment facility, Williams said.

She said all nine juveniles are in custody and were charged with inciting a riot and resisting without violence.

The teens charged were Zion Counts, 17; Jahrece Austell, 17; Terrion Whitaker, 13; Jemari Overstreet, 18; Eugene Green, 13; Stephen Hawkins, 14; K’veon Jiles, 13; Davion Smith, 15; and Tyler Gibson, 16, according to Williams.

Counts, Austell, Whitaker, Overstreet, Green and Hawkins were also charged with battery on detention staff. Austell is also being charged with strong-arm robbery for forcibly taking cell keys from staff, she said.

Williams said sheriff’s investigators are reviewing videos of the incident and the cause remains under investigation.

©2018 The News-Journal, Daytona Beach, Fla.

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