Prisoners in San Luis cause a revolt against COVID measures

Inmates at a San Luis jail caused fires and floods, smashed fourth-level windows and dumped a stationary bike, chairs and mattresses outside on Saturday in the latest riots due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions. that have limited visits and paralyzed judicial proceedings, authorities reported.

After hours, dozens of officers controlled the riot at the San Luis City Justice Center before 10:00 a.m., said Jacob Long, a spokeswoman for Mayor Lyda Krewson. Some 115 inmates participated in the riots, said Long, who in an interview with The Associated Press described the group as “extremely violent and disobedient.”

An agent was assaulted and received medical attention at a hospital before being released, Long said. There were no injuries among those detained, he added.

In a video that a passerby posted on social networks, prisoners are observed near three broken windows on the fourth level. Several inmates held up posters or threw objects, some lit, onto the sidewalk below. Firefighters extinguished the various fires.

Long did not mention how much the economic damages were, but noted that they were “very large.”

“There were marks of fire on the facade of the building. They destroyed the inside of his apartment and threw things of all kinds outside … They flooded the levels, clogged the toilets and pipes, so there is water damage, “Long said.

One point that contributed to the chaos was a lock problem that allows inmates to get out of their cells by maneuvering with the bolts, said Jimmie Edwards, the city’s director of Public Safety. According to the online newspaper St. Louis Post-Dispatch, authorities have been facing this problem since December.

Long explained that 65 inmates were transferred from the downtown jail to the San Luis Medium Security Institution, also known as the asylum for the poor.

In late December and early January, dozens of inmates were transferred from the San Luis City Justice Center after two separate riots. Authorities asserted that inmates were upset by conditions in the jail amid the pandemic.

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