They rioted at Pierce County’s juvenile detention center. Now they face felony charges
Pierce County prosecutors charged five teenage boys Tuesday who are accused of rioting last week at Remann Hall, the juvenile detention facility in Tacoma.
They’re charged with prison riot and first-degree malicious mischief in Pierce County Juvenile Court, according to court records.
No one was hurt in the riot May 29, which police reports said took nine Tacoma police officers an hour to quell. Officials estimated damage to the facility to be $35,000, the reports said.
Two of the boys were in custody on suspicion of first-degree assault, one on suspicion of first-degree murder, one for a probation violation and one for a weapons violation, the police reports said.
Charging papers said two of the suspects are 17. The others are 16.
Four are expected to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon. One is no longer in custody.
The 16-year-old who was at Remann Hall for a probation violation was released June 2 and prosecutors have asked for a bench warrant for his arrest, according to court records.
It appears the court ordered him to spend 30 days in detention in early May for curfew violations and for staying at an unauthorized address. Then Commissioner Philip Thornton ordered May 31, two days after the riot, that the teenager could be released June 2 for an evaluation scheduled that day.
He wasn’t charged in connection with the riot at that time.
Prosecutors filed a motion Tuesday for a probation violation hearing, which alleges the teenager didn’t stay at the residence he was supposed to after he was released June 2 and that his father reported he doesn’t know the teen’s whereabouts.
What charging papers allege happened during the riot
Charging papers give this account:
A detention supervisor called 911 about 8 p.m. May 29 to say that the teens were refusing to go to their rooms, that they were trying to break windows, that they were trying to fight staff and that it was more than staff could handle.
It started when a detention officer told the teenagers it was time to go to their rooms. One refused, and another poured shampoo on the floor. That made the entrance slippery when other staff members responded.
“A detention officer had been alone in the unit with the respondents and called for assistance,” the declaration for determination of probable cause said. “Multiple other detention staff arrived in the unit and the respondents threatened to fight them on a one-on-one basis.”
Then staff left and locked the teens inside, which is when they started breaking windows and “anything they could get their hands on,” the probable cause statement said.
Police arrived and saw the teens had barricaded the door, that one had covered up the surveillance camera in the unit, and that two were using a cellphone a staff member left in the unit to record what was happening.
“In one video recovered from the phone, one of the respondents repeatedly boasted, ‘We got control in this (expletive),‘” the probable cause statement said.
The News Tribune reported May 31 that a two-minute video posted to the @WAStateHomicide account on Twitter on May 30 was captioned, “Inmates go Instagram Live during riot at Remann Hall in #Tacoma last night.”
The video is hard to follow, but appears to show part of the disturbance, filmed by one of the teenagers.
The boys yelled profanity at the officers through the door, overturned tables and covered the wet floor with clothing, bedding and books, according to charging papers.
“Six additional officers arrived on scene to assist,” the probable cause statement said. “Eventually one of the respondents came to the window and told police, ‘We’re done’ after making repeated references to the number of officers that responded.”
That’s when the teens agreed to go to their rooms.
