10 more Richland inmates face charges in riot that started over more recreation time

David Travis Bland
·3 min read

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department charged 10 more people in a jail riot earlier this month that started over recreational time and injured two guards, Sheriff Leon Lott said.

“I can’t imagine how scared these two correctional officers were,” Lott said at a Wednesday news conference at the department’s headquarters.

The detainees wanted more recreational time. When they didn’t get it, they attacked, according to Lott.

On Sept. 3 at about 8 a.m., one of the detainees manipulated the lock of his cell and got out, Lott said. The detainee then let others out. The cell block held 54 detainees.

Video showed a detainee approach two guards — one a man, the other a woman — sitting at a desk in the cell block. Detainees begin to surround the guards before one of the detainees hits a guard with a chair. The guards were overwhelmed in the mob attack, the video showed. One detainee presses a guard against the wall with a mattress before the guard falls, while other detainees kick a guard on the ground in the head.

The sheriff’s department was called to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center off Bluff Road about 8:15 a.m. as the attack happened, Lott said. When a special response team of deputies entered the block, the detainees had already returned to their cells and didn’t resist being taken out.

The guards sustained non-life threatening injuries and no detainees were hurt, Lott said. While the guards were not severely harmed physically, the attack took a mental toll on the guards.

Lott called the attack “cowardly” at the news conference.

He said not all people who are jailed deserve to be there. But those who attacked the guards were previously accused of violent offenses and need to be in jail, Lott said.

“These aren’t choir boys,” he said. “They want recreation time? They don’t deserve it.”

The following people were charged with first degree assault, taking hostages and rioting:

  • Cameron C. Williams, 26, jailed on carjacking with great bodily injury and armed robbery charges.

  • Iric Bolden, 28, jailed on kidnapping and armed robbery charges.

  • Roy Harley, 23, jailed on carjacking, kidnapping and armed robbery charges.

  • Dontez O. Brown, 19, jailed on arson, church property damage, indecent exposure charges.

  • Willie Singleton, 31, jailed on murder, burglary and kidnapping charges.

  • Devonte Spell, 28, jailed on burglary and property damage charges.

  • Elijah Webb, 21, jailed on attempted murder, armed robbery, grand larceny charges.

  • Derrick Rice, 31, jailed on deadly mob assault charges.

  • Denzell McMillian, 21, jailed on armed robbery, kidnapping and burglary charges.

  • Darius Whitener, 24, jailed on burglary, domestic violence, assault and violating parole charges.

Deputies charged Spell and Webb with unlawful escape as well.

The department had already charged 23-year-old Jujuan Council and 32-year-old Anthony Blakney with first degree assault, hostage taking and rioting for their alleged part in the riot. Council was jailed on a murder charge and Blakney on kidnapping, domestic violence, armed robbery as well as other charges.

This is a breaking news story that will be updated. Check back.