Authorities have identified a 20-year-old suspect in an uprising at D.C.’s juvenile detention center but are not sure who should — or how to — prosecute the case, The Washington Examiner has learned.
Veteran youth agency guard Julius Layton was hospitalized after the violence at New Beginnings center in Laurel. The 20-year-old suspected of leading a pack of up to 12 juvenile offenders in the disturbance remains at the center, but law enforcement agencies were uncertain which agency has jurisdiction to charge him.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” youth agency spokesman Reggie Sanders said.
New Beginnings belongs to the District but is in Anne Arundel County. County and District officials said D.C. police are supposed to have jurisdiction, but the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. can’t prosecute cases from Maryland.
“We are reaching out to the prosecutors out there to resolve the matter,” U.S. Attorney’s spokesman Ben Friedman said.
Said Anne Arundel police spokesman Justin Mulcahy: “It’s not our primary jurisdiction, and it’s federal property.”
Critics seized on the confusion to blast the troubled agency, the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.
“So what do we do, arrest somebody and drive around to various prosecutors’ offices, asking if they’ll charge him?” D.C. police union leader Kris Baumann said.
The incident began about 7:15 p.m. Sunday, when the 20-year-old became upset and smashed a video game player and television, sources told The Examiner. When Layton came to investigate, the 20-year-old attacked him, breaking his jaw and knocking him unconscious.
The youths then used Layton’s security swipe card to let other kids out of their cells.
By the time officers from Anne Arundel and the Maryland State Police arrived, there were youths in the halls, in the courtyard and on the roof of the building.
The $45 million New Beginnings opened last year and was supposed to be a model of youth justice. The Fenty administration promised that the “community-based” approach, which focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment, would give the youths — and the District — a fresh start.
“They need to stop hugging and coddling these kids,” said Tasha Williams, whose union represents corrections officers at New Beginnings.
Youth agency interim director Marc Schindler dispatched a memo to his employees Monday, downplaying the “incident” and reminding staff not to talk to the media.
“All of the young people involved are accounted for, and if it is shown that any youth assaulted one of our staff, they will be charged accordingly,” Schindler wrote.
