RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — In the latest string of incidents at Richland County's Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, an assault and two stabbings happened at the jail in one day, on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, according to Richland County deputies.
Deputies say the first incident happened around 6:30 p.m., when a 35-year-old male detainee was had been attacked by two other detainees. Initial reports said the victim attempted to defend another detainee that was being bullied by two other detainees. The victim suffered injuries to the face and was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, deputies said.
Around the same time, deputies say they responded to the jail for a second time after a 26-year-old male detainee was assaulted and stabbed by six to seven other detainees.
The victim suffered injuries to the body from being stabbed and assaulted. He was then transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to deputies.
According to an incident report, the victim said he wanted to press charges against the facility because there was a guard in the bay at the time of the assault.
Later in the evening, around 11 p.m., deputies say they once again responded to the jail after a 27-year-old male detainee was assaulted by three other detainees.
According to an incident report, the victim said his attackers tried to make him "pay rent" and threatened to assault him if he did not pay.
The officer assigned to the dorm told deputies s/he did not see the assault occur because it was in a cell with the door closed. After realizing what was going on, the officer allegedly called a code and the shift lieutenant was called on to get the dorm back under control.
The victim suffered injuries to the face and was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to deputies.
As of Thursday afternoon, all three incidents remain under investigation, and no formal charges have been made.
The incidents came to light exactly one week after a federal investigation was launched into the jail over what investigators say are unsafe conditions.
Since the announcement last week, at least five additional assaults have been reported at the jail prior to the events of Wednesday.
Richland County Representative Todd Rutherford – who is also a criminal defense attorney– pointed to the bond reform bill that was passed earlier this year as one of the causes.
"All it's going to do is fill up our jails– it makes judges feel like they can't release people because of what the General Assembly wants them to do, but our system is simply not equipped to house them," said Rutherford.
Richland County Delegation Chair Rep. Leon Howard says the state needs to do more to fund mental health facilities.
"Incarcerating mentally ill people is not the answer. The county is not equipped to deal with people who are severely mentally ill. We must do more with mental health facilities to have those people transported to where they need to be," said Howard.
Rutherford also called on Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott to take over the jail.
"If they have a shortage of staff, they need to be able to call in law enforcement officers like they do in Lexington County to fill in those gaps. it can't just be that one correctional officer is left to monitor two different cell blocks, which is impossible given the distance and the doors between the two," said Rutherford. "You can't just lock people up and take away their constitutional rights because at some point they can sue because you are not letting them out of their cell blocks and then that bill hits the taxpayers,"
On Thursday News 19 asked Gov. Henry McMaster about the situation.
"You're dealing with a different element of society inside of jail at any time but I think we welcome any scrutiny, If anybody has an idea where we can do something better, we’d be glad to know about it.," said McMaster.
Richland County Sheriff's Department gave this statement to News 19:
"Sheriff Lott offered to take control of the Alvin S. Glenn detention center over a year ago. The county declined. And chose to go in a different direction. At this time it would not be feasible in light of the current investigations and efforts by the county to address the problems. The Richland County Sheriff’s Department is not unique In that I am not the only sheriff who does not have control of the county detention center. "
