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Belmont Pines incident leads to arrests

Three juveniles in custody after disturbance

LIBERTY — Days after a local mental health clinic’s staffers handled another disturbance requiring police intervention, more information has been made available.

Several unidentified juveniles were charged with assault, vandalism, inducing panic and disrupting public service after Liberty police arrested them Monday night.

According to a police report obtained Thursday, four officers were sent to Belmont Pines, with dispatchers reporting that a staff member called and said there were several male juveniles assaulting staff and damaging the facility.

Management told them upon arrival that the trio had caused a “substantial amount of damage” to the ceiling, also breaking the windows of a nursing station.

The officers also learned that two staffers were assaulted by the juveniles, too, according to the report.

The report states that while officers were collecting the juveniles’ information, along with the witness and victim info, the building’s fire alarm began to sound.

A staff member informed officers that the juveniles were hanging from the ceiling and pulling wires down, which had caused the fire alarm to sound.

All three were detained and taken into custody without incident, escorted to patrol cars and transported to the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center on their charges.

When officers explored the damaged section of the building, they noted that “most of the ceiling” was destroyed.

The report states two of the nursing station’s windows were destroyed, which staff said was caused by the juveniles getting on top of the counters and kicking them out. Items on the counter were also broken.

The fire alarm system was damaged and yanked from the ceiling, too, according to the report.

Officers reported a “large number” of ceiling tiles damaged and thrown around the building’s section, causing dust to fill the room, and the ceiling’s vents were pulled down and hanging along with numerous wires and bent metal rods.

The report states that the facility’s damage prevented other patients from receiving proper care, and the damage prevented Belmont Pines from using the portion appropriately.

Hospital staff said the damage was caused by all three juveniles, according to the report.

Officers identified two witnesses, who provided statements.

One staff member said he was shoved by the juveniles when attempting to stop them from causing damage, while another said she was also shoved and almost had her arm broken.

A representative from Belmont Pines said that the damages the facility sustained will be “repaired promptly.” Belmont Pines is still open and fully operational, she added.

“The care and safety of our patients is our top priority. Monday night, we had an instance whereby three patients on our residential unit initiated a disruption. Liberty Police Department were called to assist,” the representative said. “Due to HIPAA patient privacy laws, I cannot offer any additional comment on specific patients/residents in our care.

“We are reviewing the incidents to determine if there are any improvements we can make to our facility security procedures.”

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