Arrest outside prison may have caused riot

Authorities say a Thursday night arrest and seizure of contraband may have prompted a riot at the privately run prison at Walnut Grove in Leake County that resulted in the stabbings of nine inmates.

Walnut Grove Police Chief Kevin Polk said his department arrested Marcus Warnsley, 26, at 9:35 p.m. Thursday and charged him with trespassing and attempting to introduce contraband into a correctional facility.

In Warnsley’s possession, they found 11 footballs that contained 29 cellphones, cellphone charges, headphones, paring knives, cigars, razors and other items, Polk said.

“It was like a convenience store,” Polk said.

The footballs also contained six bags of marijuana that together weighed more than 4 ounces, he said.

“We got a tip from a person who was outside, watching,” Polk said.

The officer then arrested Warnsley, Polk said.

Shortly after that arrest, a riot broke out in the prison.

Leake County Sheriff Greg Waggoner told The Clarion-Ledger that a 911 call was placed to his office at 10 p.m. that “there was a riot going on at the prison.”

Nine offenders were injured. Seven were taken by ambulance to the local hospital, and three were taken to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Six of the inmates have been returned to the prison, and the three taken to UMMC have been admitted, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

The rioting was taking place in two zones inside the prison, he said. “They were able to contain it there. We did not have to go in.”

Issa Arnita, corporate communications director for Management and Training Corp., said Thursday in a statement that the prison’s emergency response team used chemical agents to gain control of the inmates. He said the incident lasted one hour.

Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps visited the Walnut Grove facility Friday. He issued a statement acknowledging the disturbance was related to the “attempt to introduce contraband into the facility.”

He went on to say since an earlier incident on Dec. 31, MDOC and MTC have been working on additional security measures. “We are conducting shakedowns, where we are finding contraband, including shanks, cell phones and tobacco. We also have installed netting around the facility. And MTC recently launched a K-9 unit to curb the amount of contraband being introduced at Walnut and its other facilities,” Epps said in the statement.

Polk said Warnsley denied being affiliated with any gang but that authorities are continuing to investigate and could make further arrests.

Warnsley has been arrested in the past for misdemeanors but not for felonies, he said.

The unit where the disturbance took place houses 240 inmates, he said.

An investigation is underway by both MTC and the state Department of Corrections.

Contact Jerry Mitchell (601) 961-7064 or jmitchell@jackson. gannett.com. Follow @jmitchellnews on Twitter.