The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 5

THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRERTuesday, Feb. 5, 1980 A-5 Guard Hid, Wore Prison Garb To Escape i and "little cakes," which apparently were taken-from the prison canteen. 1 He lay there through Saturday and the long, dark hours of early Sunday morning. "I was scared," Gallegos said. "But I'd say I kept pretty calm all the time I was there." At about 6 a.m., inmates removed Gallegos' handcuffs and supplied him with a prison unj-'.

form and a steel bar the latter In case he was recognized by the rioters. Gallegos and four prisoners felt their way out of the smoke-filled cellbock and walked toward the prison recreation yard where prisoners not. taking part in the riot were staying. Because of the thick smoke, "you could only see two or three feet in front of you," he said. At the recreation yard, which was under guard, the prisoners and Gallegos were frisked for weapons.

"I told them I was an officer," he said. "And the men on guard took me away for questioning." Ml BY DICK BEHNKE and DAN HERRERA Gannett News Service SANTA FE, N.M.-'T was praying the whole time, hoping they wouldn't find me; I was very scared." New Mexico State Penitentiary guard Victor Gallegos, who was hidden from rioting Inmates for about 28 hours, escaped his captors early Sunday morning, dressed In prison clothing, aided by Inmates who did not want to participate in the riot. While some prisoners were rioting and others chose to isolate themselves from the violence, there were a few who remained In the riot-torn areas and took an active part in saving Gallegos, and possibly others, from harm. "The first ones that didn't want anything to do with It got out right away," Gallegos said. "But others stayed behind to try to help." But before his escape, the frequently bound 22-year-old Santa Fe native suffered through hours of darkness, fear and captivity.

HOME FROM duty In Okinawa a week when he took the prison Job, the 22-year-old ex-Marine had been a guard at the prison for only three weeks, which probably is why he was not recognized by others and eventually was able to escape. Gallegos came on duty Friday night at midnight. Things appeared routine. "All the prisoners were up watching TV, but I guess that's normal because they don't have to work Saturday," he said. AP Laserphotos TONY VIGIL, left, was one of the last prison guards released; guard Victor Gallegos, right, escaped by dressing as a prisoner.

room and dragged Roybal away, he said. In the commotion, the rioters apparently did not notice the hidden Gallegos. As he lay beneath the bunk, with the door now out of its frame, he said he could hear shouting and movement elsewhere in the cellblock. "You could hear them yelling; they were trying to break Into Cellblock 4 and cutting up the doors with torches." SOME OTHER inmates would occasionally come to the cell where Gallegos lay bound and hidden. They gave him coffee, water, potato chips "If you Block people make an error, you pay the interest and penalty? I shoulda come here last year." i II IIIM I II AP Laurphoro THE CLEANUP begins at the New Mexico State Prison following rioting by prisoners.

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1 1 3 Lovclond-Modra Rd. CKrry GfOt Cherry Grov Shp. Hill. 967 McM.llan At about 2:15 a.m. Saturday, Gallegos was making his rounds on the second floor of an open area of the prison dormitory with three other guards.

By 2:30 a.m. he was a prisoner of the men he had been guarding. "A guy dressed In a guard's uniform approached us carrying a flashlight and a homemade knife," Gallegos said. The guards struggled to take the knife, but were overpowered by a group of inmates. GALLEGOS SAID he was blindfolded, stripped of all his clothes and bound with his belt.

He was separated from the other guards and placed on his stomach with his wrists handcuffed to his ankles. "People kept running by," he said. "I was kicked and slugged and threatened to be stabbed." At 6 a.m. Saturday, he was moved by some Inmates from the rage-filled dormitory to Cell-block 1. As he moved between the dormitory and the cellblock, he said he noticed the main gates between the two areas were still locked, but that the rioters had cut holes in the walls next to the gates.

Gallegos was placed in a cell with Capt. Greg Roybal. Roybal, who was Injured, was placed on a bunk. Gallegos was slid under the bed, out of view, an act that would help him later. As Inmates left the smoke-filled cell, the door was locked from the Inside and the latch was broken to prevent entry.

LYING ON the cement floor, Gallegos had a lot of time to think and pray. He credits his military training for the ability to remain relatively calm during his 24 hours of captivity. His calmness began to break down, however, when rioters trying to get inside beat the cell door with steel pipes. After about two hours of pounding, the door fell down and about four rioters rushed into the Amelio, 7 West Main WESTERN-729-5800 Colka Hill 61 24 Harr.llon Av NorfhuaV 4ISS Hamilton Aw. Spfmqdok 115 IB Spr.nafidd Pik Reading, 91 SI Reoding Rd.

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the prison is totally In the control of the rampaging Inmates, and that fires have been started inside. 7:30 a.m.: Ambulances begin to pull away from the prison carrying bloodied prisoners. 10 a.m.: The prisoners demanded a news conference to air their grievances. Noon Saturday: Governor King arrived at the prison and talked briefly with Inmates. Afterward, he told reporters at the prison gate that at least eight hostages had been taken; that no guards had been killed; that there were dead prisoners Inside.

Throughout the afternoon, reports of atrocities began to trickle out of the prison. State police confirmed that one prisoner had been beheaded. The arm of another dead man had been ripped from his body. Another prisoner had been hanged. Many of the bodies strewn Inside had been badly wounded.

4:15 p.m.: Warden Griffin told a news conference that 300 Inmates had separated themselves from the rioters, taking refuge in the exercise yard. Prison officials had begun to negotiate with prisoners on 11 demands concerning overcrowding and other living conditions. The prisoners had agreed to release one hostage for each reporter sent inside to talk with them. Assistant Santa Fe District Attorney Joe Shattuck told reporters that prisoners involved in the negotiations were swallowing pills from a large Jar they had stolen from the Infirmary. "They were doing dope right there in front of us," he said.

6:15 p.m.: A television newsman and a newspaper photographer were admitted to the prison. 11 p.m.: Two more reporters were escorted into the prison. Shortly afterward, the first hostage was released: prison guard Michael Schmidt was brought to negotiators naked and shackled into a chair. When he was carried out of the prison on a stretcher in front of reporters, a blanket had been thrown over him. Blood poured onto the sidewalk from several wounds, and Schmidt was cradling his head in his arms and moaning.

Through the night, fires raged inside the penitentiary. Reporters monitoring police radios outside heard prisoners screaming on the air: "We're dying; we're trapped; there are 40 people in here." During the night there was a two-hour lull in the steady stream of injured prisoners coming from inside. Medics outside napped in the backs of ambulances, smoked cigarettes and talked among themselves. 8 a.m. Sunday: Warden Griffin told a news conference that negotiations had resumed, and another hostage had been released, leaving eight inside.

11:30 a.m.: Commission Chairman Bud Richards told reporters that fighting had ended; that reporters were being exchanged again for hostages; and that the prisoners were asking for food. 12:55 p.m.: For the first time, officials acted as if they were in control of the prison. They said that they had stopped the social meltdown Inside. "I am confident It will be cleared up by Monday morning," King told reporters. "It Is very peaceful." During the final stages the negotiations, small groups of state policemen had been moving quietly into the prison, sealing it off door by door.

1:45 p.m.: Fifty to 100 National Guardsmen armed with M-16 rifles marched through the main gate and took control of the prison. Bud Richards said that many inmate rebels were barely able to walk when they finally surrendered, weaving from the effects of alcohol and dirigs. Inmates9 Riot In NM Prison A Tale Of Death BY FRANK CLIFFORD and JIM SCHUTZE 1980, Dallas Times Herald SANTA FE, N.M.-As the morning sun rose above the Sangre de Crlsto mountains Saturday, officials knew that something awful had happened Inside the smoldering New Mexico State Penitentiary. The Inmates had turned on themselves. Of particular concern to law enforcement officials was the safety of a dozen prisoners housed In a special separate cellblock.

In recent months, these dozen inmate "snitches" had helped Santa Fe County district attorney Eloy Martinez successfully prosecute two fellow prisoners accused of murder and six guards accused of dealing in drugs inside the prison. IN THE predawn hours following the outbreak of rioting, the officials quickly learned that their fears were Justified. Perhaps the most telling moment came when the chairman of the New Mexico Corrections Commission, Stephen "Bud" Richards, lifted his field glasses to scan the walls. While Richards watched, two inmates dragged a third prisoner to a window. One lifted the man's face up to the window, holding him by the hair.

The other aimed a glowing blowtorch at the man's face and began to burn it away with the flame. Somehow, beginning with an apparently random spark, the prison almost instantly had ignited into a horror of mutilation and murder Inflicted on prisoners by prisoners. The prison was consuming itself. HERE IS a chronology: 2 a.m. Saturday: Two guards entered a cell where two Inmates were drunk, apparently on homebrew liquor.

The drunken Inmates overpowered the guards and raced toward a corridor leading to the prison's electronic center. Within moments, the two drunken Inmates had been Joined by others. They discovered that a gate that is supposed to bar access to the corridor had somehow been left open. Within seconds they had smashed "shatterproof" glass surrounding the control center and had gained access to all of the prison's locking and lighting systems. 2:15 a.m.: New Mexico Gov.

Bruce King was notified that the lights inside the prison had been turned out and that security men outside the prison were unable to' reach prison staff inside. Prisoners were already sweeping through other parts of the prison, including the Infirmary where they grabbed large quantities of drugs. Valentine B. Martinez, a guard for 13 years at the penitentiary, watched from his duty station in another cellblock as the riot began. "We saw the massacre that was taking place on the south side.

They (Inmates) were throwing people against the wall." For the next 36 hours, Martinez and the other guard hid In the basement, listening to the noise of the inmates in control of the prison. 2:30 to 3 a.m.: the governor mobilized Santa Fe City police, Santa Fe County Sheriff's deputies, New Mexico State Police, and the New Mexico National Guard to help restore order Inside the prison. 6 a.m.: Prison Warden Jerry Gffln tells a conference that Wood in itself is an insulating material. Andersen Windows combine insulated wood with insulated glass, or triple glazed panes as an option, to give you the ultimate in fuel saving windows. The cost of energy is continuing to increase, and the importance of quality, wood windows is one of the wisest and most economical investments that will pay for themselves in fuel savings in a short time.

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