NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Thirteen teenagers broke out of a Nashville youth detention center and all but one were recaptured within hours, authorities said Saturday, marking the latest of a rash of security breaches at the complex.
The 13 teens overpowered a guard at the Woodland Hills Youth Development Center late Friday, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services said in a statement. It said they took the guard’s radio and keys and let themselves out of a dormitory and ran to an exterior gate. It is not yet known how they got outside the fence.
The statement says Nashville’s Metro police and Tennessee Highway Patrol officers regained custody of all but one youth within hours. The report said the dozen recaptured teens were taken to a juvenile court detention center after what was the third major disturbance in weeks at the center.
The department says 52 other teens being held at the Woodland Hills complex remained inside.
Department officials and police didn’t immediately answer Associated Press calls for further details Saturday.