Inmate Fighting at Lewis State Prison in Arizona Injures 12

According to a Department of Corrections official, there was a fight among high-custody level inmates at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis over the weekend. In an email Monday, Arizona Department of Corrections media spokesman, Barrett Marson, outlined the general nature of Saturday's disturbance.

"There was a fight at the Morey Unit Saturday, which began just after noon," Marson described. Marson went on to explain, "Twelve inmates were injured, and taken off-site, though none [of the injuries] were life-threatening."

Marson said Monday that the Morey Unit is still locked down, though it does not appear the lock-down is affecting other units at the Lewis state prison. Marson also relayed that no staff were injured as a result of Saturday's violence, but could not confirm whether or not chemical agents such as pepper spray were used to quell the situation.

Saturday's fight at the Lewis prison has been reported elsewhere to have begun after an altercation between two inmates spiraled out of control, and may have led several more inmates to get involved. Department of Corrections officials reported the fight was "contained in just a few minutes, and the cause if the fight is under investigation. The [Morey] unit remains on lock down and will be for several days."

ASPC-Lewis is one of over a dozen state prison facilities in Arizona, and is located just southeast of Phoenix, in Buckeye, AZ. The Lewis state prison is designed to house up to 4,397 inmates and has six units. Each of the units are named after fallen corrections officers, and are intended to contain levels 2, 3 and 4 inmates (medium-high custody).

ASPC-Lewis, and the Morey Unit in particular, made national headlines in 2004, when it was the site of the longest prison hostage standoff in US history. Inmates Ricky Wassenaar and Steven Coy embarked on a spree of mayhem, sexual assault against female staff and violence within the prison, escaping general custody but not the prison itself. Instead, the pair took over the tower, and held two correctional officers hostage, keeping the complex on lock-down for weeks before releasing their hostages.