Inmates at minimum-security prison were praised for helping victims of a bus crash in Arizona.
About 50 inmates were being carried by a Department of Corrections
bus when it slammed into an over turned tractor-trailer on an
interstate, leaving a number of people injured. About 20 inmates, the
bus driver, and a corrections officer were sent to the hospital, and
several needed to be airlifted, reported The Huffington Post.
Uninjured inmates tended to several people who were hurt rather than
attempt to escape, according to reports. About 30 inmates directed
traffic and laid down flares. Others tended to the wounded.
“Everybody’s seen the movies and I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m gonna have
inmates scatter and we’re gonna have 50 fugitives,'” Sgt. Josh Wilhelm
of the Department of Public Safety told The Associated Press. “That was
not the case.”
The inmates were minimum-security offenders severing less than five-year sentences for mainly nonviolent crimes.
Bill Lamoreaux, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of
Corrections, said that it was “great to hear” about the inmates. “It’s
always heartwarming to see anyone jump in when assistance is needed,” he
said.
The inmates were returning from a work site at around 1 a.m., and
Lamoreaux said that isn’t unusual. “We have work crews at sites all
around the state who are working all sorts of different hours,” he told
the Post.
The 30 uninjured prisoners were sent back to prison.
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