Windows broken in prison fracas

A group of inmates broke out several windows during a disturbance Wednesday at the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys, authorities said.

Solomon Graves, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Correction, said the inmates began breaking out windows Wednesday afternoon, though the cause for the disturbance is not yet known.

Graves said no staff or inmates were injured, and that the incident was isolated to one cellblock. A cellblock can hold approximately 60 inmates; Graves said he did not yet know how many inmates in the block were involved in the altercation.

Graves said the incident happened some time after an altercation between a jail officer and an inmate that occurred when the officer seized contraband from the inmate.

Graves said he had no information to connect the two incidents.

Graves said officers broke up the incident and removed the inmates who were causing the disturbance. Anyone involved, Graves said, will be placed in restrictive housing pending a disciplinary court review. If warranted, Graves said inmates could receive extra time on their sentence for the disturbance.

Graves said he did not yet know the extent of the damage in the cellblock, but that he knew a “handful” of windows had been broken.

The broken windows will not hinder operations of the cellblock, however. Graves said employees would put up plywood over the windows and continue to keep the block in use while waiting for new window panes and materials to arrive.