Plea deals made in standoff at juvenile facility

Kim Smith

Friday, July 6, 2001 | 8:30 a.m.

Seven teenagers charged as adults in last month's standoff at the Summit View Youth Correctional Center have accepted deals.

All seven of the youths opted to waive their right to a preliminary hearing Thursday and announced they will plead guilty to malicious destruction of property in District Court.

The youths could get between one and five years in prison. In some of the cases prosecutors have agreed not to make a sentencing recommendation, but will make a recommendation in others, depending upon the defendant's role in the standoff.

District Judge Sally Loehrer will sentence Paul Mendez, Kristopher Wood, Juan Medina, Charleston Tooks, Darren Abbey, Daniel Cronin and Tyrone Davis on July 18.

Authorities said that on June 1, 20 offenders at the privately run facility in North Las Vegas scaled a fence, then hoisted each other to a nearby roof.

When Metro Police arrived, the youths tore up pieces of the roof and pipes on top of the building and began throwing them at the officers, authorities said.

Deputy District Attorney Bart Pace told Tyrell Thursday that at least $12,000 worth of damage was done to an air conditioning unit.

The standoff ended about 90 minutes later when the teens, tired of the 100-degree weather, began coming down. A handful of those who didn't come down immediately were pepper sprayed and shot with beanbag rounds and taken into custody, authorities said.

According to their defense attorneys, the inmates were irate because the facility's new warden had recently informed them they had to begin serving their sentences over again.

Eleven of the youths are awaiting hearings in Juvenile Court. During those hearings, Family Court Judge Dianne Steel will determine if they should be tried as adults.

Two other teenagers, Anthony Prentice and Ricardo Lopez, just weeks shy of 18, have agreed to plead guilty to malicious destruction of property as adults. They, too, face one- to five-year sentences.