Chaos and mayhem described during riot and escape attempt at Belmont Pines Hospital
A group of underage girls are facing charges after police said they rioted and attempted to escape Belmont Pines Hospital in Liberty Township.
Belmont Pines is a behavioral health hospital and has inpatient and outpatient treatment programs.
Friday at around 7:40 p.m., 911 dispatchers received a call from Belmont Pines.
A staff member told Trumbull Dispatch, "We have a riot over here on the girl's residential unit, we need all available help here please."
Police confiscated one metal shank that a juvenile allegedly used to try and stab an employee.
A police report says that the girls struck staff members in an attempt to steal keys.
The report describes the girls engaging in physical confrontations with patrolmen, pushing, kicking, punching and attempting to escape.
Police on the scene say one of the girls tried to grab items from an officer's ballistic vest.
An officer reports that he observed blood, hair, lotion and soapy water throughout the hallway, which is a tactic used to slow responding staff down in preparation of a violent attack or an attempt to escape.
The officer also said that it shows prior planning.
Some of the girls also put lotion all over themselves, which officers said was to try and stop them from catching them.
The police report states, "It was clear at that time that the staff of Belmont Pines had lost complete and total control of the facility and the risk of serious physical harm was imminent to the individuals housed there, the staff members and responding officers."
The report made by Liberty Township police states there have been over 100 calls to the Belmont Pines Hospital location for service this year.
WFMJ confirmed with Trumbull Dispatch there were 109 calls this year.
Eight girls who were housed at the Belmont Pines Hospital residential unit are charged with a criminal count of rioting and are being held at the Trumbull Juvenile Justice Center.
They range from 12 to 17 years old.
Liberty Township Police Chief Toby Melaro said, "Our officers and police from surrounding communities who responded, did a great job of quelling the riot and bringing the situation under control."
Officers from Liberty, Girard, Vienna, Hubbard Township, Hubbard City and Brookfield responded.
Ten victims were listed in the police report filed.
There are still many unanswered questions, such as how many staff was present and how many girls and teens are responsible for supervising during a shift.
Belmont Pines responded to our questions with the statement below.
The incident on Friday occurred on our residential unit, where children are placed for longer periods of time for complex Behavioral Health treatment.
Our staff are trained in non-violent crisis prevention, and milieu management. Our staff handled the situation professionally and as trained. We are pleased to report that no staff or residents were seriously injured.
We are reviewing the incident to see if we need to make any changes. Our facility continually reviews incidents and processes to improve as part of our overall performance improvement plan. Our goal is always to look toward better patient outcomes and maintain safety and security.
