
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 24, 1992                   TAG: 9203240345
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: POWHATAN                                LENGTH: Short

PRISON DISTURBANCE LEAVES 9 INJURED

A prison disturbance that injured seven guards and two inmates Monday began when an inmate refused to allow guards to search him for contraband, a Department of Corrections official said.

Ben Hawkins, executive assistant to state corrections director Edward Murray, said the "altercation" at the Powhatan Correctional Center began about 11:25 a.m. in cellblock C-2.

"Several other inmates got involved and one thing led to another," Hawkins said. The disturbance lasted about a half hour.

The maximum security prison 25 miles west of Richmond houses about 850 inmates. All prisoners were locked in their cells after the incident and will remain there until an investigation is completed, officials said.

- Associated Press

by CNB