Prison and Corrections Expert Larry Levine discusses what took place during a jail disturbance some have called a riot that jumped off at the Sandoval County Detention Center in New Mexico 22 miles North of Albuquerque when corrections officers were unable to get nine inmates to go back in their cells.
The inmates engaged the corrections officers in a small battle and wrapped their shirts around their faces and threw inmates threw soapy water, a microwave, and other items at a door leading into the cellblock as a Corrections Emergency Response Team tried to enter.
An inmate who was a repeat offender named Benito Lopez was one of the leaders of the inmate uprising. Lopez had previously spent ten years in prison for beating an elderly Cuban couple back in 2006 and for his role in a friend's murder. Video of the riot shows what appears to be Lopez helping other inmates block the door before officers release a flashbang through the opening and storm the pod.
At the time of the disturbance, Lopez was in custody for a probation violation after not showing up to a meeting with his probation officer. Authorities used a series of flash bangs to disorient the inmates and eventually apprehended them all.
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