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Uprising reported at a juvenile detention facility

ALLEGHENY TWP — At least three staff members were hurt Monday night in the latest uprising at a juvenile detention facility, authorities said.

A “riot” is how a state police news release described the incident at the Western PA Child Care on Route 38 in Allegheny Township.

State police from Butler were called to the facility about 7:15 p.m. for a reported altercation involving student-inmates and staff. Just one inmate was later seen in handcuffs but it was not known if anyone else was arrested.

Troopers from Butler as well as the Clarion and Franklin stations last year were sent there for several brawls that police also called “riots.”

In the latest incident, three staff members were treated for injuries, authorities said. One staffer, a 30-year-old man, was struck in the head.

At least two of the injured staff members were taken by ambulance to Clarion Hospital for unknown injuries.

Assisting police was the Eau Claire Volunteer Fire Department, Emlenton Ambulance and Superior Ambulance.

The news release said the incident remains under investigation. Police investigators could not be reached for comment this morning.

A woman who answered the telephone this morning at the facility, owned by Mid-Atlantic Youth Services, Corp., said officials there had no comment.

“We have nothing to say but thanks for calling,” she said, before hanging up.

The facility houses teenage boys and young men placed there by juvenile courts across the state because of drug, alcohol and criminal problems.

The unrest Monday was not as bad as a reported riot that broke out in May 2016 when two rival groups of youths, including several gang members from Philadelphia, attacked each other. Five youths were arrested and at least eight staff members were injured.

A month later, a melee involving about two dozen student-inmates rocked the center. Police suspect the youths used the June 4 fight as a pretext to target staff, sending at least four staff members to area hospitals for treatment.

The next morning, police said, troopers were sent back to the scene after 10 juveniles broke out of their rooms and started another “riot.”

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