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Police lights are seen in the distance after several days of unrest at the Arizona State Prison-Kingman.(Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic)
KINGMAN, Ariz. — A third disturbance within four days erupted at a private prison outside Kingman, authorities confirmed Saturday afternoon.
Units with the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Mohave County Sheriff's Office helped the Department of Corrections in quelling the unrest at Arizona State Prison-Kingman.
A spokesperson with the DPS stated the department was asked to assist with a "prison riot." Mohave County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Jody Schanman said units were called to the prison, but she could not elaborate on the specifics of the situation.
Late Saturday, DOC spokesman Andrew Wilder acknowledged that there was a riot Thursday at the complex but described Saturday's incident as a group of inmates being "non-compliant."
He also said the transfer of about 700 inmates that began Friday because of Thursday's riot continued into Saturday. He would not disclose where they'd be transferred but said that state law allows the convicts to be placed temporarily in county facilities or even shipped out of state.
He added that correctional officers from public prisons have been called in to assist Management & Training Corp., the Utah-based company that manages the Kingman-area prison. He declined to specify which prisons the additional officers came from.
MTC did not return requests for comment Saturday night.
Saturday's incident resulted in one or two inmates sustaining minor injuries, Wilder said. There were no reports of staff being injured.
Wilder declined comment regarding MTC's operation of the private prison. He also said he had no information on who would be paying for the transfer of the inmates or the bill for local law enforcement having to respond to back-to-back incidents.
The DOC spokesman reiterated that contrary to some bloggers' reports, there were no escapes and that no inmates breached the prison's perimeter either Friday or Saturday.
The prison is about 20 miles west of Kingman and the complex can easily be seen from Interstate 40.
Earlier Saturday night, the flashing blue and red lights of at least a dozen law-enforcement vehicles could be observed around the perimeter. The road into the complex was blocked by local police officers, and the Kingman Police Department and Mohave County Sheriff's Office referred all questions to MTC.
At about 9 p.m., the law-enforcement vehicles began pulling back from the prison's perimeter and the roadblock was lifted.
About 2 miles away, law enforcement and medical crews stood ready to respond, but they also began pulling back late Saturday night.
Gov. Doug Ducey has been briefed on the situation, said his spokesman, Daniel Scarpinato.
"The state's Number 1 priority is to protect Arizona citizens and our public safety officials," Scarpinato said via e-mail.
Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan issued an order Friday to transfer 700 inmates from the prison, following unrest Wednesday and Thursday that resulted in minor injuries for eight staff members and left two medium-security units "uninhabitable."
The first disturbance on Wednesday evening injured six corrections officers in what the department deemed a "major disturbance" among minimum-security inmates.
Five of the six injured officers were treated at the prison, with one transported to a local hospital for treatment and later released, according to Issa Arnita, a spokesman for MTC.
Thursday's incident was described as a full-scale riot involving inmates in the medium-security unit, and it spread over two of the prison's five housing units, Arnita said.
The prison, which is in Golden Valley and houses about 3,600 minimum-and medium-custody inmates, opened in 2004. It has had several high-profile security breaches in recent years.
An inmate serving a five-year sentence for theft and possession of drug paraphernalia was badly beaten there in January and died at a hospital three days later. His family is seeking $7.5 million from the state and MTC.
In 2010, three inmates escaped and went on a violent crime spree that included the murder of an Oklahoma couple vacationing in New Mexico.The inmates were caught and received new prison sentences.
On July 22, the DOC will begin accepting bids for a $50 million project that would be spent on up to 2,000 prison beds in the next two years, according to Samuel Richard, executive director of Protecting Arizona's Family Coalition.
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