Local News: Teens Escape from Dentention Center Again

Security upgrades at a troubled youth detention center in Nashville were not enough to prevent 13 teenagers from escaping Friday night, marking the third major disturbance this month.

Tennessee Department of Children's Services spokesman Rob Johnson said several teens overpowered a guard at the Woodland Hills Youth Development Center at about 11 p.m. on Friday. They took the guard's radio and keys and let themselves out of a dormitory. All but one were recaptured within hours.

The breakout was the latest in a series of problems that have alarmed Tennessee authorities, including a mass breakout by 32 teens on Sept. 1. The state has since begun conducting a review of youth detention security in the state.

Security improvements since the Sept. 1 breakout include securing the bottom of the fence that surrounds the facility in concrete. Workers also have reinforced aluminum panels under the dormitory windows that the teens were able to kick out during the first escape.

"A lot of shortcomings were exposed after that first breakout," Johnson told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "They've been working hard and fast and have made a lot of improvements, but there's still more work to do."

Johnson said Friday's breakout began while a guardhouse was empty and that guard was out checking the perimeter. According to the official, the teens smashed the guardhouse window with a rock and one went through the broken window and opened the gate for the others.

The guard who was overpowered in the dormitory was treated and released from a local hospital, Johnson said. Another worker also was injured, but not seriously.

Within hours of the breakout, Nashville's Metro police and Tennessee Highway Patrol officers had regained custody of all but one youth, a 16 year old. The recaptured teens were taken to the juvenile court detention center. The 52 other teens being held at the Woodland Hills complex remained calm during the disturbance, Johnson added.

The Last teen was taken into custody this morning (Sunday).

Source: MSN News

AP Photo: Mark Humphrey