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Monday, April 21, 2008

8 Arrested After Fight at YDDC

By Hailey Heinz
Journal Staff Writer
    Eight men were arrested after a fight at a juvenile detention center left four guards injured Saturday afternoon.
    About 24 youths at the Youth Development and Diagnostic Center were outside during recreational time when a fight broke out, said Romaine Serna, spokeswoman for the Children, Youth and Families Department.
    She said it was still unclear Sunday night what caused the fight but that it was being investigated.
    All the men involved in the fight were 18 or older, Serna said. It took guards about 20 minutes to break up the fight and subdue the men, who were then booked into Metropolitan Detention Center.
    There were three corrections officers in the area when the fight broke out, one of whom was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital. Serna said the female guard's clavicle was broken and she might have worsened an existing leg injury.
    Three other guards were also treated for minor injuries, Serna said.
    One 20-year-old man who was involved in the fight was taken to UNMH where he was treated and released, Serna said. Three others were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
    According to the center's policy, two of the three guards in the area should have been male, Serna said. However, two of the guards who broke up the fight were women. Serna said a male supervisor had been in the area, but he had been called to another area because of a youth acting up.
    The center, at Edith and Candelaria, houses offenders between the ages of 14 and 21 who have committed an array of offenses, as well as those who are sent there for diagnostic evaluations, Serna said.
    The facility has a capacity of 142 and was at 148 when the fight broke out Saturday, she said. After the arrests, the center's population was back down to 141 on Sunday.
    "Population is something we work very hard to manage, but it's something we have very little control over," Serna said.