Hide Article Text (OCR)
THOMASTON, Maine (UPI) — Riot-equipped state police manned gun towers and patrolled cellblocks at the Maine State Prison today, replacing guards who the governor said had lost control of the jail.Gov. Joseph E. Brennan ordered the takeover Wednesday, saying there was “tremendous potential for a very serious situation’’ at the 160-year-old maximum security facility. Another official called the prison “a tinderbox.”Warden Richard Oliver was relieved of his duties and “by mutual consent’’ was transferred to another job in the state Corrections Department, Brennan said.Prisoners set a series of small fires, chanted in unison and hurled objects about their cells to protest the takeover, but authorities said there was no serious violence.Acting Warden Donald Allen ordered police and a team of weapons specialists to conduct a cell-by-cell search of the prison today to gather up homemade weapons and other contraband, including combustible materials.The search teams would use videotape cameras to record the contents of each cell and catalogue any confiscated items.Brennan told reporters in Augusta that prison officials‘tinderboxand the guards had lost “full control’’ of the institution and indicated he was afraid prisoners might seize the institution unless action was taken quickly.“We had information from various persons that there was tremendous potential for a very serious situation down there,” Brennan said. “There was a deterioration in conditions which seemed likely to result in inmate actions which could gravely jeopardize human life.“Until today, the prison was not fully under the control of the state. Nor was it reasonably safe from fire, violence or exploitation for either guards or prisoners,” he said.The governor said inmates would be kept in their cells round-the-clock for several days to help restore order.“The Maine State Prison is a tinderbox,” added Allen, who was placed in charge of the “lockdown.”“We busted a major loan-sharking operation at the prison in the last 24 hours,” he said. “A cell-by-cell search will begin soon for weapons, contraband and combustible materials’’Allen said only small groups of prisoners will be allowed to take showers together and they will be kept under “constant surveillence ”
Newspaper Details
Nashua Telegraph
Nashua, New Hampshire, US
Thu, Apr 17, 1980
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
University O.
ME, USA 14 Aug 2019
Other Publications Near Nashua, New Hampshire
Nashua Telegraph
