| Modified Lockdown continues at Pendleton Prison |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, August 20, 2007
Modified Lockdown continues at Pendleton Prison
Background:
At approximately 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 16, 2007, a number of fights among inmates occurred in one of the housing units on the west side of Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton. Staff immediately responded and broke up the fights. Twenty-two of the inmate participants were assigned to the Segregation Unit as a result of the fights.
Several inmates suffered minor injuries. No staff injuries were reported.
On Friday, August 17, 2007, at approximately 7:35 a.m., a series of fights erupted in the West Dining Hall. Staff immediately intervened to break up the fights. Eighteen inmates were escorted from the area and assigned to segregation. The incident occurred in the presence of approximately 150 inmates. Several inmates received injuries and were provided medical treatment. No staff injuries were reported.
EOCI was placed on modified lockdown status at approximately 7:45 a.m. including cancellation of visiting. Inmates already on their job sites remained. Education classes, programs and recreation yard activities were also cancelled for the day.
Update:
Sunday, August 19, 2007:
Limited inmate movement was maintained throughout the facility. Inmate visits resumed Sunday morning. Inmates’ leisure-time activities were limited to TV rooms and activities rooms on their housing units. Inmates housed on the east side of the facility we permitted to eat their meals in the East Dining Room for meals at a slower pace and by housing unit, one unit at a time. Meals were bagged and distributed to inmates assigned to the housing units on the west side of the prison.
At approximately 1:45 p.m. Sunday afternoon, a fight broke out in the television room on one of the west-side housing units. Additional correctional staff were dispatched to the unit to break up the fights. Three inmates were immediately escorted to the Disciplinary Segregation Unit. Moments later a second fight broke out on another west-side housing unit causing an additional 12 inmates to be segregated. As a result of these incidents, visiting was suspended for the remainder of the day and the west side of the facility remained in lockdown. Inmates in east-side units continued to be limited to on-unit activities.
One correctional officer was injured when he intervened to prevent one inmate from assaulting another inmate with a chair. The aggressive inmate turned upon the officer and they wrestled each other to the floor. The inmate was subdued and escorted to segregation. The officer was taken to St. Anthony’s Hospital for treatment and later released.
Monday, August 20, 2007:
The east-side housing units continue to rotate at a reduced pace to meals in the East Dining Hall. Inmates assigned to east units reported to work in the Garment Factory, Physical Plant shops and other normally scheduled programs. The Westside remains on lockdown status. Recreation yards remain closed.
Visiting is routinely closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Visits are scheduled to resume on Wednesday. However, visitors are encouraged to call the facility to check on the status of operations before leaving home for a visit at EOCI.
The EOCI Parenting Class will conduct a graduation today. The ceremony involves 27 inmate graduates and their families.
The Oregon Department of Corrections actively manages threats to security at its institutions, whether those threats come from individuals or groups such as gangs. EOCI will continue to assess the level of safety and security within the facility and work towards restoring normal operations and activities to inmates based upon these determinations. Approximately 575 inmates housed on the facility’s west side remain in lockdown. EOCI’s population today is 1,586.
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