ST. LOUIS — Eight teens were involved in a disturbance at the Juvenile Detention Center along Hogan Street Thursday, which included injuries to at least one of the youth leaders there and about $10,000 in property damage. Police also said officers used pepper spray to subdue one of the teens.
Police were called to the center at about 9:45 p.m. for a report of a disturbance or possible riot.
Once there, police officers used pepper spray to get a 15-year-old under control, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
One of the employees suffered injuries to their hand, according to the sources.
A 19- and 20-year-old were taken to the City Justice Center following the incident. The 19-year-old is awaiting trial on a first-degree voluntary manslaughter charge and evidence tampering. The 20-year-old is being held on robbery and armed criminal action charges.
Five teens were taken to the Juvenile Detention Center along Enright Avenue in the city, which has also been the sight of repeated escapes and assaults on staff members there.
Those teens included a 15-year-old being held on first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and gun theft charges, and two 16-year-olds, one facing rape, evidence tampering and assault charges and the other facing assault charges.
Two 17-year-olds also were taken to the facility on Enright Avenue. One of the teens is facing armed criminal action, assault and gun theft charges. The other is facing first-degree robbery and armed criminal action charges.
Police sources said the teens were trying to escape from the facility — which has also had its share of escapes and assaults in recent months.
This is the latest in a string of incidents at the city’s juvenile detention centers.
At least nine juveniles have escaped the Hogan facility in two incidents since last July. And since last September, a total of about a dozen teens have gotten out of the Enright facility over four escape incidents.
"We heard sirens. We saw a lot of police activity. But that's it. We really didn't know what was going on,” a resident on the block said.
The resident, who didn't want to give her full name has lived near the Juvenile Detention Center on Hogan Street for about seven years.
She and other neighbors said they did not have much interaction with the employees other than seeing them going into work and leaving and none with the juveniles who stay there.
"What's been described for me is something that certainly has some tension that goes along with it so there may be some concern for their daily safety as they go and make the decision to work there,” she said.
The neighbor added that she knew people who have worked at the facility near her home but also thinks about the youth they oversee.
“What's going on with their safety? How are they going to get their families to get to them again, to speak to them again? Everybody involved. What can we do to make it a better situation,” she said.