Two charged in riot at Richland County jail that injured two guards, deputies said
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department charged two jail detainees Friday who deputies said rioted, held guards hostage and injured them.
Deputies charged 23-year-old Jujuan Council and 32-year-old Anthony Blakney with first degree assault, kidnapping and rioting.
The sheriff’s department is still investigating the riot at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and expects additional charges to be filed, it said.
The sheriff’s department was called to the Richland County jail off Bluff Road about 8:15 a.m. Friday after a riot started in a cell block of about 50 detainees, Sheriff Leon Lott said. It’s unclear how many detainees were involved.
Two guards were in the cell block and detainees had them at their mercy and injured them, according to Lott. When a special response team of deputies entered the block, the detainees had already returned to their cells and didn’t resist being taken out. While searching the cells, deputies found four weapons described as “shanks,” or homemade knives.
The guards were medically treated at the jail and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Lott said. No detainees were hurt.
Records show that Council was jailed in 2019 at the detention center while awaiting trial on a murder charge. He also has pending charges for domestic violence, weapon possession during a violent crime and failing to stop for police. In 2016, Council pleaded guilty to kidnapping and robbery, according to court records.
Blakney was jailed in 2019 to await trial on strong arm robbery and shoplifting charges, court records show. He also has charges against him of kidnapping in a separate case, domestic violence, armed robbery, possession of a stolen gun, conspiracy and removing an ankle tracking monitor. In 2008, Blakney pleaded guilty to burglary and petit larceny, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to breaking into a vehicle in 2012 and a host of gun charges in 2013. In 2017, a judge found him guilty of disorderly conduct, records show.
Council and Blakney could face more than 50 years in prison if found guilty of the most recent charges.
This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 8:15 AM.