Inmates transferred in wake of flareup

Up to three state prisoners could face criminal charges in the Panhandle clash.

WEWAHITCHKA - More than 70 state prison inmates were moved to new facilities after a violent disturbance last week at a Panhandle prison in which five guards suffered minor injuries.

One guard was treated at a hospital after the incident on Christmas Eve at the Gulf Correctional Institution, but he returned to work with all the other guards, said Joellyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman for the Florida Corrections Department.

Visitation was being limited on Saturday, with half of the facility's remaining inmates allowed to have visitors, according to a statement on the Corrections Department's Web site. The other half of the prison's inmates will be allowed visitors on Sunday. A return to regular visitation policies will be evaluated on Monday, the department said.

The facility north of Port St. Joe was locked down during the week, prison officials said earlier. Telephone messages left at the offices of state corrections officials were not immediately returned Saturday.

Rackleff said Friday that 72 inmates who showed "enthusiasm" for violence or unwillingness to cooperate with guards during the incident were transferred to other facilities.

Rackleff said the violence started while guards were trying to question and handcuff an inmate in a fenced-off area of the yard. Before corrections officers could lock the gate to the area where they were, "some inmates rushed the gate, took (the prisoner) out and assaulted four staff members," Rackleff said.

At the time, about 600 inmates were in the recreation yard. No shots were fired during the disturbance. Rackleff said as many as three inmates may face criminal charges in connection with the disturbance.

[Last modified December 29, 2007, 22:22:15]