DARTMOUTH, Mass. (WPRI) — Five inmates caught on camera ravaging a housing unit at the Bristol County House of Corrections during an hours-long standoff last year are now facing charges.
Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux said Hector Abreau Garcia, Aaron Gagnon, Shane Burnett, Norman Dias and Jason Frasca have been charged with malicious destruction of property by an inmate. (Abreau Garcia and Gagnon are facing seven counts each, while the others were charged with one count.)
Heroux said correctional officers were shuffling inmates to a different cellblock back in April when more than a dozen so-called “ringleaders” refused to comply. Those ringleaders then riled up their fellow inmates, prompting the correctional officers to back out of the housing unit.
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Nearly 200 officers responded to assist because the prison didn’t have enough staff to safely breach the housing unit on their own, according to Heroux.
Heroux believes upwards of 20 inmates caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage before correctional officers took back the housing unit. He claims the prison only has surveillance footage of five inmates actually destroying the cellblock, which is why no one else is facing charges.