EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Seven of the eight inmates who attempted to incite a riot Tuesday evening, May 21 at the Otero County Detention Center (OCDC) have been identified, according to court documents obtained by KTSM.
According to court documents, Pedro Feliciano, Fred Rebeles, Eric Amaya, Jaime Espinoza, Anthony Rodriguez, David Torres and Dominique Thomas were involved in the riot.
There was no information provided about the eighth inmate involved in the riot.
At approximately 7 p.m. May 21, the Alamogordo Police Department (APD) responded to the OCDC in reference to a riot.
Upon arrival, officers learned that Housing unit D3 was refusing to lock down. Officers also learned that there were eight inmates in the housing unit who armed themselves with weapons, according to court documents.
According to court documents, inmates broke a broom or mop handle to make weapons. They also used their bedding to hang on the railing of the top tier rooms to prevent officers from observing what they were doing.
Officers deployed pepper balls into the housing unit in an attempt to get the inmates to comply; however, the inmates stayed outside of their cells and didn’t lock down.
According to court documents, a detention officer stated that the incident started over Feliciano receiving a write up for threatening medical staff.
The detention officer said that officers went to pick up the mop bucket in the housing unit and observed it was in Feliciano’s room.
Feliciano told detention officers to “come get the mop bucket,” in a threatening way as he appeared to be angry, according to court documents.
According to court documents, the detention officer was in a “catwalk” behind the housing unit to shut off the water and observed Rebeles with a broken broom stick with a sharpened end and inmate Thomas with a black stick sharpened to a point.
The detention officer also observed the inmates tearing up mattresses and towels to cover their bodies. Ortiz believed they were doing that to prevent the tasers from having any effect, according to court documents.
According to court documents, a detention corporal stated that Feliciano told him that he was going to start a riot. He also said he saw Thomas to have two weapons that were sharpened to a point.
Lieutenant Javier Sifuentes, who arrived after the riot started, said that Amaya was locked in his cell but could hear him telling the other inmates he did not mean to lock down and the door shut behind him, according to court documents.
Other detention officers reported to have seen Rebeles, Feliciano, Rodriguez and Espinoza with weapons sharpened to a point, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Rodriguez was also threatening officers to stab them in the neck if they entered the housing unit.
Officers learned that the inmates in the housing unit were walking down the stairs with their hands up. Officers went to the housing unit and told the inmates through the door they needed to lay down and place their hands behind their backs. Officers could hear the inmates yelling that were not laying on the ground, according to court documents.
According to court documents, officers went into the housing unit after the inmates were finally removed and collected five wooden objects sharpened to a point. Officers also located a mop handle broken off the mop head.
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