Disturbance at prison results in evacuation
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on October 24, 2016 10:01 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Inmates are lined up at the back of Neuse Correctional Institution Sunday night -- their cheers and yells could be heard from most of the grounds -- as officers from several law enforcement agencies work to control inmates following a disturbance earlier in the day. One inmate and a correctional officer were injured during the incident.
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News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Department of Public Safety spokesperson Pamela Walker speaks about a disturbance involving inmates at Neuse Correctional Institution
Officials stopped short of calling Sunday's incident a riot, but confirmed today that approximately 500 inmates were evacuated from Neuse Correctional Institution after a disturbance Sunday evening resulted in two people being injured and fires being set inside the prison.
The incident started at about 4:30 p.m., according to a N.C. Department of Public Safety news release.
N.C. DPS spokesperson Pamela Walker said one inmate sustained injuries during an assault by another inmate, and a corrections officer at the prison was injured by unknown means when responding to the disturbance.
Both men were treated at Wayne Memorial Hospital and have since been released.
Names of the inmate and officer who were injured are not being made public, Walker said, but a pair Goldsboro police reports obtained Monday do list a corrections officer who was assaulted while detaining a suspect in an earlier assault of another inmate prior to the disturbance breaking out, and that of an inmate who was assaulted.
Walker could not be reached by press time to confrim whether the police reports matched up with what officials have said took place during or leading to the disturbance.
In the reports, Paris Michael Collins, 34, an employee of the facility, was assaulted around 5:10 p.m. while interviewing a "suspect" about an assault at the prison.
The report said Collins attempted to handcuff the person, who then fled. When Collins caught the person, they turned around and hit him in the face two or three times, according to the report.
A separate police report said Tristan Phillips, 25, was assaulted by three inmates Sunday around 5:10 p.m. The assault stopped when a corrections officer entered the room where the assault was happening.
Both Collins and Phillips were taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries.
Inmates set two fires Sunday, one inside the prison's diagnostic building and the other in a storage shed, which was destroyed by the flames. They also also broke windows at the prison and damaged four dorms.
Despite the number of inmates evacuated and the damage caused to the facility, Walker said she would not call Sunday's incident a "riot."
"I think some people may characterize it as that. I would not consider it a riot unless the inmates were able to take over the entire prison," Walker said. "They were only able to cause any issues or disturbance in one portion of the prison."
An investigation is under way to figure out what caused the disturbance and which inmates were involved.
Walker said the inmates would be taken to various prisons throughout the state but would not release which prisons for security reasons. The evacuation began just around 1:30 a.m. when more than a dozen inmate buses began taking inmates to other locations.
Walker said the prison's primary function is to process new inmates or house those with short sentences. The portion of the prison that was not affected by the events of Sunday evening will return to normal operations and the state's Prison Emergency Response Team will remain at the site for security purposes.
The minimum-security prison has a total population of 788 inmates, leaving around 288 at the facility, according to a press release today.
The Goldsboro Police Department, Wayne County Sheriff's Office, Johnston County Sheriff's Office, North Carolina Highway Patrol, probation officers, PERT and Goldsboro, Rosewood and Belfast fire departments all responded to the scene Sunday evening.
Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce and Goldsboro Fire Chief Gary Whaley did not return calls requesting comment by press time.
Staff writer Joey Pitchford contributed to this report.