ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - After the second uprising at a downtown St. Louis jail in two months, Mayor Lyda Krewson says they don't know yet how some inmates were able to get out of their cells.
Around 9 p.m. Sunday, fires were set while mattresses, a table, a large chair, and other debris came reigning down from the third floor of the St. Louis City Justice Center. The inmates who escaped their cells were not detained until around midnight, in a repeat of the February 6 uprising at the same jail.
"The most important thing right now is for us to get these repairs done," Krewson says. "The most important thing is for us to be able to secure the areas and have the detainees safely in these areas."
The jail staff reports some inmates were treated for "minor cuts" from shattered glass. The Sunday night uprising left three separate sections of glass broken along the Tucker Street side of the jail.
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But at this rate, Krewson says the work won't be done until mid-May.
When asked who's to blame for this and similar events?
"First of all, the detainees," Krewson answered.
But what about the jail employees who are locking doors and securing the areas?
"Absolutely, and as I and everyone has said, working very difficult, working very hard to get all of those replaced," Krewson says.
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Officials say they are still trying to determine how the inmates defeated the locks again to get out of their cells.
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