CLALLAM BAY — Four unrelated fights among inmates at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center on Sunday and Monday led to a lockdown which remained in effect Tuesday night.
One corrections officer and one inmate suffered minor injuries before the lockdown began at 4 p.m. Monday, Chad Lewis, public information officer for the state Department of Corrections, said on Tuesday.
“Even though these were isolated incidents, when there are four fights in a short period of time, that is when they decide to go into a lockdown,” Lewis said.
During a lockdown, all of the prison’s 850 offenders must remain in their cells while officers investigate and search for contraband.
“There were several incidents involving different offenders,” Lewis said.
“We have heard different accounts about who was involved in each incident, so it is under investigation how it all played out.”
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Department was called to the fight in which the two were injured and will handle an investigation on that particular fight.
“They’ll call us if there are injuries or something, but going into lockdown for the prison is pretty routine,” Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said.
“They go into lockdown whenever there is a confrontation, just until they can get [the inmates] calmed down.”
The other fights will be investigated internally at the corrections center.
“Right now we are not involving any additional staff,” Lewis said.
“We might or might not require extra people to help with the investigation.”
The officer who was injured was referred to his private physician, and the inmate was checked at the prison, Lewis said.
Neither of their names were released.
No other injuries were reported.
Lewis was unsure when the lockdown would end.
“It can typically gradually go back to normal operations,” Lewis said.
“It depends on how long it takes the officers to interview those involved.”
