Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall: Security stepped up following ‘major disturbance’ at Downey facility

Downey Juvenile hall remains on lockdown

Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey is still on lockdown after several inmates were able to get into the yard and one was able to escape the facility. Officials said all of the escaped youths have been brought back.

DOWNEY, Calif. - Authorities said Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey remains on lockdown and that it has stepped up its security measures after 13 inmates attempted to escape during what officials are calling a "major disturbance" late Friday night.

Interim Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa has ordered a Department Bureau Chief — among the highest-ranking officers in the department to be present to supervise operations during every shift at Los Padrinos effectively immediately.

Rosa said around 8 p.m. Friday, seven inmates assaulted staff members and broke open an exterior door of their living unit. They proceeded to break a window of a second unit and another six inmates participated in the chaotic scene.

Police presence at juvenile facility in Downey

A group of inmates in Downey reportedly tried to plot an escape from the juvenile facility, prompting heavy police presence.

A source told FOX 11 that the group of inmates tried to escape the facility and that some of the inmates tried to scale the facility’s walls. Both the Downey Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene.

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Authorities said no serious injuries were reported during the incident.

By Saturday morning, the department said all 273 inmates were accounted for.

"I want to thank the law enforcement officers who responded and got this situation under control quickly. It is my understanding that all the youth have been accounted for," LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a released statement.

"We need to understand exactly what happened last night at Los Padrinos. I expect our interim Chief Probation Officer to get to the bottom of what went wrong and make assurances to the Board of Supervisors and the City of Downey that this is not going to happen again," she added.

Officials clarified only one of the inmates managed to escape during the disturbance. "One of the youths temporarily escaped during the disturbance but was immediately apprehended by officers from the Probation Department’s Special Enforcement Operations unit," an official said.

Since he is 18 years old, authorities requested the LA County Sheriff’s Department to book him as an adult.

As far as the other 12 inmates involved in the disturbance, they have been placed in individual rooms under one-on-one supervision.

Rosa has also requested Michael Minor, a private security consultant and former director of the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation’s Division of Juvenile Justice, to work with the facility’s employees as they work to tame operations.