Teen climbs tower in standoff at prison 18-year-old inmate was protesting move to adult jail, officials say

Teen climbs tower
in standoff at prison
18-year-old inmate was
protesting move to
adult jail, officials say
BY TARA PETERSEN
Staff Writer

MONROE — An inmate at the juvenile state prison climbed a water tower on the site and spent six hours on its 135-foot-high catwalk before authorities talked him down.

The 18-year-old resident of the New Jersey Training School for Boys had been scheduled for transfer to a state Department of Corrections adult prison in the next few months, and the standoff was an attempt to avoid his transfer to that facility, said state Juvenile Justice Commission spokeswoman Sharon Lachaire.

The incident began about 9 a.m. May 5 when the man, who last resided in Camden County, was on his way to a classroom.

Officials said he had removed boards along the bottom 20 feet of the tower’s leg supports and managed to climb one of the legs, even though the ladder rungs had been severed at the bottom. The safety measures had been taken years ago in an effort to prevent someone from climbing the tower, Lachaire said.

"He broke through the wood," she said.

Officials said training school Chief Oveston Cox was among the first to notice the youth and established communications with him in an effort to keep him calm.

Local law enforcement, firefighters and rescue workers as well as the state Technical Emergency and Mission Specialists (TEAMS) soon arrived at the scene to aid in negotiations and rescue efforts.

TEAMS member Sgt. Jeff Algor said the teen, who had taken strips of torn bed sheet up with him, was relatively calm and was communicating with officials.

"He was up on the water tower walking around contemplating what he was going to do," Algor said. "He was leaning over the edge to communicate."

The man requested a cell phone, cigarettes and water, Algor said.

He attached his jacket to the torn bed sheet and lowered it down to allow officials to place cigarettes, a two-way radio and water in the jacket.

"He didn’t want anyone to get too close to him," Algor said.

Cox and Detective Brian Hoar of the state’s hostage negotiating team continued to try to convince the man to allow officials to rescue him. Within an hour of the exchange, the teen decided to come down, following news of an approaching thunderstorm

"The weather was beginning to turn. It was getting windier and there was a threat of thundershowers," Algor said. "It kind of sped things along a bit."

Algor went up in a fire truck aerial ladder to assist the youth with harness ropes, and a safe climb into the bucket, which Algor said did not quite reach the catwalk height.

"I just kept asking him, ‘Are you all right?’ and he kept shaking his head yes," Algor said.

Lachaire said the man told officials that the reason he climbed the water tower was because he did not want to be transferred to the adult facility.

Though youths routinely stay at the training center into their early 20s, at times a transfer is recommended, Lachaire said. Inmates are usually moved if they have a lengthy sentence, or if officials feel the person is not a good influence on the rest of the residents there.

The training center, Lachaire said, is a "campus-type" facility surrounded by fencing where inmates have some freedom to walk from one building to another.

A temporary fence has now been placed around the water tower, and more wood has been added to the legs, Lachaire said.

"We have completely surrounded it with wood so it is completely inaccessible," she said.

The tower, though not used for drinking water, is essential to the campus fire prevention system, and is scheduled for renovations, Lachaire said.

Lachaire said the law prohibits the release of the inmate’s name, even though he turned 18 in March, since he was brought in on juvenile charges.

He is currently undergoing psychological evaluation and "getting the treatment he needs," she said.