A vicious brawl that broke out at Cheatham County Jail in Tennessee Tuesday morning left five people, including two correctional officers, injured.
Cheatham County’s sheriff claims that the violence was a direct result of overcrowding at a jail that typically has six riot officers on duty “if we’re lucky.”
“This is life right now in Cheatham County in our jail,” Sheriff Mike Breedlove told NBC. “Right now we don’t have a healthy facility. We have a problem.”
News outlets report that the jail was 76 inmates over its 116-bed capacity when the fight broke out.
Breedlove says inmates in one of the jail’s dorms broke the locks off a neighboring dorm and attacked inmates, officers and property.
Six inmates accused of starting the fight were later transferred to the Robertson County Jail. Breedlove says “many” inmates were involved and the fight may have initially targeted a man charged with murder. He says one inmate accused in the fight is related to the victim.
“Disturbing. Dangerous. Any time you put a bunch of people in one setting, there’s going to be conflict. There’s going to be nerves and impatience,” Breedlove added.
The Cheatham County Jail is a 32-year-old facility whose capacity was sufficient when it was built. But the area has grown over time, dwarfing the jail.
The sheriff maintains hope that the county “will find some funding to help us relieve the pressure because it’s a dire situation.”
It costs almost $74 per day to hold an inmate outside of the county, according to WSMV.
— With files from the Associated Press