ST. LOUIS — Six men have been charged with taking hostage a 73-year-old jail guard and damaging property last week at the downtown ºüÀêÊÓƵ jail.
Charges say Eric J. Williams, 20, started the incident around 6 a.m. by punching the guard in the head, and then he and another inmate, 29-year-old Anthony D. Newberry, began unlocking other inmates’ cells. Paul M. Mondaine, 20, and Ernest T. Lyons, 21, then joined in to help bind the guard’s hands and legs.
Over the next two hours, charges say, two others — Richard C. Bolden III, 30 and Cleveland V. Washington, 21 — contributed to the destruction. Bolden helped Newberry throw an extension chord over TVs and pull them down to the ground, charges say, and Washington smashed the televisions while other inmates used the remnants to make weapons.
SWAT officers removed the corrections officer after 8 a.m., but the fallout from the incident continued for several days as inmates complained of not getting regular meals or access to showers or phones.
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The hostage situation marked the latest controversy at the facility, which has seen multiple security breaches in recent years due to broken locks and understaffing. The jail’s civilian oversight board has complained for months that it’s being blocked from the access needed to provide real oversight.
On Monday, the president of the city’s NAACP chapter, Adolphus M. Pruitt, and the Rev. Linden Bowie, president of Missouri’s Missionary Baptist State Convention, called on the city to release more information about the incident and conditions at the jail.
“The City Justice Center has a judicial history attesting to years of abuse, mistreatment and violence,†Pruitt and Bowie said in a statement. “Effective CJC oversight is of paramount importance to ensure that individuals are treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their legal status or alleged crimes.â€
Charges say the hostage incident began when Newberry and Williams, both of whom are being held on first-degree murder charges, were helping the corrections officer pass out breakfast trays to inmates. Newberry and the guard were talking when Williams hit the officer from behind, according to court documents.
Williams and Newberry pushed the guard into the shower area, took his keys and began unlocking several other cells, releasing dozens of inmates. Lyons, who was being held on robbery charges, brought the guard back out of the shower area, and several inmates handcuffed and bound his legs.
Lyons, Newberry, Williams, Mondaine and Washington all now face charges of first-degree kidnapping, and Newberry and Williams face charges of third-degree assault.
Mondaine is also charged with unlawful use of a weapon. Court documents say he held up a homemade weapon to the guard and said, “I’ll cut your throat if they come in here.â€
Bolden, who was being held on an attempted rape charge, Newberry and Washington also face charges of damaging jail property.
All are being held without bond.
Police had said last week the guard was 70, but he is listed as 73 in court documents.