LIBERTY — A mental health clinic’s representative said Thursday that no significant injuries were sustained following the latest disturbance at the facility, resulting in the arrests of juveniles.

Five girls were charged with aggravated riot, vandalism, assault, resisting arrest and obstructing official business, while two boys were charged with assault and vandalism last Friday.

According to a police report obtained Thursday, Liberty police were called to Belmont Pines in response to unruly juveniles being “combative and destructive”.

Officers spoke with a supervisor and the reportee, who said that the staffers had a boy restrained on the ground and told officers that the two boys were being verbally abusive and attempting to fight staff — and some were already physically assaulted.

The supervisor added that the two boys were destroying the unit by pulling down ceiling tiles and pulling a telephone out of the wall. The supervisor walked the officers to the boys’ unit of the facility, where officers relieved staff members who were restraining a juvenile on the ground by handcuffing him and escorting him out of the building.

The report states that as an officer stayed in the building to gather more information, staff came running outside, telling officers that the girls’ unit was “acting / lashing out.”

The reporting officer reentered the facility, where they found the officer who stayed behind dealing with “multiple uncooperative juvenile guys”, as well as staff members trying to restrain multiple girls.

The reporting officer went with another officer to detain one of the girls, a 15-year-old, who was warned multiple times to calm down and go back to her room. The report states the girl continued to disobey orders and was eventually handcuffed, with officers later learning she was the girl who had also assaulted staff.

The report states that by that time, officers asked dispatchers to send more help to their location.

Officers were still trying to control the situation when they noticed three staffers attempting to restrain one of the girls. The report states officers relieved staff and they attempted to put the girl in custody, but she continued to resist officers by stiffening her arms and pulling away.

Two officers eventually put her into handcuffs and she was taken away to a patrol vehicle.

The report states that, with more officers on the scene, seven were taken away and transported to the Trumbull County Juvenile Justice Center, where their charges were filed through the county’s juvenile court.

Rebecca Bayley, director of business development for Belmont Pines, said no significant injuries were sustained and the facility’s residential treatment unit went back to normal operations after the disturbance.

“The staff of Belmont Pines Hospital are trained in Trauma Informed Care. Core tenants of this protocol include putting the safety of the child first in any interaction while respecting the origin of a specific child’s pre-existing trauma,” Bayley said in a statement. “The children we treat in our residential treatment program often have complex psychological pathology, including violent tendencies and our TIC interventions usually successfully de-escalate such situations.”

Bayley said when TIC principles have been exhausted, law enforcement works with the hospital to remove the aggressors from the premises if needed to ensure the safety of other residents and staff.

PREVIOUS INCIDENTS

Last week’s disturbance marked the second to occur at Belmont Pines in August.

Several unidentified juveniles were charged with assault, vandalism, inducing panic and disrupting public service after Liberty police arrested them Aug. 4.

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 report states that 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.

It is the third reported one of the year, with Liberty police responding to the facility in March for a disturbance that involved multiple juveniles allegedly assaulting staff members, leading to several arrests and requiring coordinated efforts from law enforcement to restore order.