PC Sheriff’s Office charges Eight Inmates after Jail Fight

The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office has charged eight inmates in the Pickens County Detention facility for physically assaulting two other inmates. All ten individuals were being detained in a general population area on unrelated charges when the incident occurred on April 22. Two male victims were taken to the emergency room for treatment of blunt trauma injuries and subsequently released back to the Pickens County Detention Center. The incident occurred in a POD, which is an open area with rated capacity of 32; however, on the day of the fight there were approximately 65 inmates assigned to that area of the facility due to issues associated with overcrowding. The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office reports that the rated capacity for the entire facility is 93 and on the date of the assault, the total population was 226 inmates. All eight inmates identified as participating in the assault have been charged with two counts of assault and battery by a mob in the third degree. All eight inmates are still detained within various areas of the Pickens County Detention Center on these and other unrelated offenses. Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark said, “We routinely see that confrontations among inmates tend to rise during periods where the jail population grows well over 200. Our officers work diligently to make the environment as safe as possible but with the number of people in such a small area of square footage, it is a huge challenge. I am encouraged by Pickens County Council’s movement to investigate potential solutions to this issue and it is my hope that appropriate measures will continue to be taken to minimize the risks and hazards exposed to our Detention personnel and to the inmates that are detained within the facility.”