'It was just pandemonium.' Violence quickly erupts during 1978 prison riot
(This is the second in a three-part series remembering the Pontiac Correctional Center riot on July 22, 1978. The Pontiac Daily Leader interviewed PCC guards Tom Bailey, Richard Jones, Terry Norgaard and Dan Ramsey, and Al Lindsey of the Illinois State Police, all of whom were inside the walls of the prison at some point that day.)
There really didn't seem to be much different about this particular Saturday morning.
Like the other days of the week, July 22, 1978, was a warm one with high humidity.
Townspeople were out and about. The day's activities were getting underway. This included a shopping event in downtown Pontiac.
Chaos erupts
More: Signs of impending problems were visible before 1978 Pontiac Correctional Center riot
Correctional Officer Tom Bailey was in the dining room tower in Pontiac Correctional Center with inmates from the West Cellhouse, but none of the inmates were eating.
Because of this, the lieutenant on duty took the inmates back to the cellhouse early.
It was 9:45 a.m.
The South Cellhouse inmates were in the chapel watching a movie and they were getting ready to move when chaos broke out while inmates from the North Cellhouse were being brought in from the yard.
“I didn't get see much, but I do know (the dining room officer) went over to the door of the North house after it kicked off. He looked through this little port (in the door) and he said there were two officers down, but he couldn't tell who they were,” Bailey said.
The first two victims were recorded. Lt. William Thomas, 49, of Saunemin, and Correctional Officer Robert Conkle, 22, of Graymont. A third victim, Stanley Cole, 47, of Pontiac, died soon after. All three men where killed in the first minutes of the outbreak.
Three guards were also seriously injured in the first few minutes. Dale Walker was hit with baseball bat and stabbed several times. It was said that a blanket was placed over him because the inmates thought he was dead, but he survived his wounds.
Danny Dill was stabbed several times and left for dead. He, too, survived.
Sharon Patchett was escorting a prisoner from South Cellhouse when she was attacked. She was brought into dining room and placed at Tower 9 before eventually being taken to the hospital. She gave a phone interview to the Daily Leader the following evening.
“I'm extremely lucky,” she told The Leader. “I kept expecting to get stabbed, but the group that hit me evidently didn't have any weapons.”
Pockets full of ammunition
Word of the riot spread quickly into town.
“I was off duty, but I heard some radio traffic about the prison,” said Al Lindsey of the Illinois State Police. “I went to the sally port and met Donny Trent, the other trooper. He had gone to the gatehouse, and they wouldn't let him in. They called for state police assistance, but they wouldn't let Donny in because he had a gun."
Lindsey called district headquarters before going home and changing into uniform. There were 13 ISP troopers and the prison's fire truck there when he arrived. Fires were already raging inside the prison.
“There are 13 of us there, and we're hearing there are guards down,” Lindsey said. “We didn't know what building they were in, we didn't know how we could get to them, but we thought we had to do something. There are a thousand inmates loose in that yard. We're seeing a forklift. We're seeing them knock down doors to captain's quarters, the commissary, all that.”
Lindsey said the trooper's finally went in to find the guards but couldn't go any further into the yard due to the number of inmates.
"We had sidearms and shotguns except for (Jimmy) Kennedy. He had the rifle," Lindsey said. "We took everything we could carry round wise. We had pockets full of ammunition.”
'Unbelievable to see'
The troopers went inside the prison with Kennedy on top of the truck and six troopers walking on each side.
“Once we got up there, it was them and us looking at each other,” Lindsey added. “We didn't know if they were going to come at us or not. For some reason, by the grace of God, they moved back toward the admin building on the north end of the yard. … I don't know if it was the shotguns and the rifle, I don't know. They were cowards, obviously.”
The armed troopers were able to move toward the administration building where many of the inmates had gathered.
“There were hedgerows and they got on one side, and we were on the other,” Lindsey said. “It was a standoff. There was still only 13 of us until the troops started arriving. The cavalry started finally coming. They came in in groups, which further agitated (the inmates).”
The riot itself was resolved in less than three hours.
“It's so surrealistic to see all those inmates like they were and those fires raging,” Lindsey said. “It was just pandemonium. It was unbelievable to see.”
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Zero hour: Violence erupts quickly during 1978 prison riot in Pontiac
