3 juveniles face riot charges after disruption at Arkansas behavioral hospital

TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — Three teen-aged boys have been arrested after a group of juveniles were accused of taking over a section of a hospital in Texarkana, authorities said.

The Texarkana Arkansas Police Department responded Sunday to an emergency call from the Riverview Behavioral Hospital where several patients, described as unruly, had begun a riot and taken over a part of the facility.

“Dispatch was advised the patients had gained control of a piece of metal and were using it to break out interior windows in an apparent effort to escape the facility,” the department said in a news release.

When several officers from the TAPD and other agencies arrived, they found that several staff members were trapped inside a nurse’s station, surrounded by the unruly patients, police said.

After developing a plan to evacuate the staff and secure the patients, officers wearing riot gear entered the facility and were able to “successfully separate all parties involved and de-escalate the situation without any major injuries to the patients, staff or officers,” police said.

A 17-year-old boy and two 15-year-old boys were arrested and now face a charge of inciting a riot. They were transported to a juvenile detention facility while the other juveniles involved were remanded back into custody of the hospital, police said.

TAPD Capt. Zach White told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that about 25 juvenile patients were involved in the disruption.