CLEVELAND– Six teens have been charged for the riot at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center earlier this month.
The Jan. 8 incident resulted in $200,000 in damage to the facility, including busted ceiling tiles, broken light fixtures and clogged plumbing. One detention center officer was injured.
“I think what this incident has shown is that we need a different structure,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said. “They certainly need additional manpower over there to watch over these individuals.”
Five of the suspects are 15 years old. The other is 14. They face charges including aggravated rioting, inciting violence, vandalism and disorderly conduct.
O’Malley said one teen was also charged with four counts of aggravated menacing for threatening to stab jail guards with a piece of glass. Three were charged with attempted escape for breaking a window and trying to flee onto East 93rd Street.
According to the prosecutor, the riot was planned.
The suspects remain at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center.
One teen involved in the riot is a suspect in the Nov. 24 shooting on Buckeye Road in Cleveland that took the life of 12-year-old Abdel Bashiti. The inmate is charged with aggravated murder, murder and attempted murder in that case.
The other riot suspects are being held on aggravated robbery charges. O’Malley said some of their cases could be bound over to adult court.
“Our community has seen a growing wave of violent juvenile crime. When you look at who is currently being housed in that facility, which averages up to 130, 140 individuals a day, a vast majority, 80 percent, are being held on murder, aggravated murder or felony ones and twos,” O’Malley said. “A larger percentage of the detainees are violent individuals.”
NOTE: During a news conference Thursday afternoon, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said seven individuals were charged. The prosecutor’s office sent an update later that it was six, not seven.
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