Staff and inmates at Spring Creek Correctional Center – Alaska’s maximum security prison, in Seward – continued to clean up this week after a riot there May 7th.
The 62 inmates in Spring Creek’s “Hotel Mod” barricaded the housing unit’s door and destroyed a TV, chairs, toilets, plumbing, sprinkler heads and security cameras. The Department of Corrections estimates the total cost of repairs will be about $100,000.
According to early reports, inmates were upset about an upcoming, early-morning cell inspection, and some of those involved were members of prison gangs. But Spring Creek Superintendent Bill Lapinskas says it’s still unclear if either of those things are relevant to what motivated the rioters.
Lapinskas – interviewed in his office at the prison – says the professionalism of his staff and a solid plan allowed them to bring the riot to an end with no injuries.
Casey Grove is host of Alaska News Nightly, a general assignment reporter and an editor at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cgrove@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Casey here.
