4 hurt, 10 briefly escaped in riot at Northern Nevada juvenile camp

By Scott Sonner, Associated Press

Tuesday, March 3, 2015 | 1:16 p.m.

RENO — Authorities are investigating a riot at a juvenile rehabilitation camp in northern Nevada where two buildings were set on fire, four staff members hurt and 10 youths briefly escaped before they were recaptured over the weekend.

No one was seriously injured, but one staff member at the Rite of Passage Silver State Academy in Yerington had to be treated at a local hospital after Saturday night's incident, Lyon County Sheriff Al McNeil said Tuesday.

The state fire marshal is investigating the arsons and Yerington Tribal Police are probing the cause of the riot — the fourth uprising in fourth months at the school for at-risk teens, McNeil said.

Six of the escapees were captured shortly after the riot that broke out about 8 p.m. Saturday, and the other four the next morning, he said. One building housing the laundry and another with a maintenance shop suffered an undermined amount of fire damage.

McNeil said he's increasingly concerned about the safety of the community and is pressing officials at the school on federal tribal land about 70 miles southeast of Reno to make changes so it doesn't happen again.

"I've had public safety concerns over the years because there is no fencing to keep them on the property," McNeil told The Associated Press. "They break into my citizens' homes and steal keys and steal cars. My community is at its wits end right now."

"This is rural Nevada, and every home has a gun. My biggest concern is one of these kids will go into a house at 2 a.m., and there will be a farmer or a rancher there — and we'll have a fatal shooting. In Nevada, that would be a justifiable homicide, but nobody wants to see that.

"We're all supportive of the program and want to see it succeed, but we need to find a way to do it better."

School officials did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment on Tuesday.

John Dibble, chairman of the school's advisory board, said school officials are considering changes to improve safety at the facility that opened in 1987. "I'm devastated that once again we were a threat to the community and that's not something we enjoy being," he told KOLO-TV in Reno.

The school's website said it provides counseling, educational, vocational and athletic programs for boys ages 14 to 17 "with a troubled past," the majority who are sent there on court orders as an alternative to prison. It currently has 26 students, the website said.

"We are disappointed with the actions of a few of our students and those responsible will be held accountable," the school said in a statement on its website. "We are still positive that our program benefits disadvantaged youth and will be evaluating future admissions."

Most of the youths are sent there from neighboring California, McNeil said.

Yerington Tribal Police did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

McNeil said several youths "made a bunch of improvised weapons," but he had no further details about the incident or nature of the minor injuries.

"You break a table leg and then you have a club," McNeil said. There were three less serious riots during a two-day period at the school in December, he said.