Attorney Releases Video Of Inmates Fighting At Tulsa Halfway House Set To Close

Thursday, January 16th 2014, 11:30 pm

By: Emory Bryan

A video of inmates fighting surfaces as the Department of Corrections pulls inmates out of a downtown Tulsa halfway house.

An attorney shared the video that shows a brawl with what appears to be a guard watching while the inmates gamble over the outcome.

Watch The Video Above

On Thursday, Avalon's president said he's taking a look at the video, but said their previous investigation, before the video came out, determined none of their employees were involved.

The video begins with inmates warning the man with the camera to turn it off. Inmates aren't supposed to have phones in prison, much less doing what comes next on the video, clearly betting on a fight inside the walls of the Avalon Center.

It's a halfway house where men are supposed to work jobs, while spending their off time in custody. It's minimum security and the last stop before inmates are released.

The profanity laced video not only shows inmates fighting without anyone stopping them, it appears there's a guard in the video encouraging the fight.

The man is wearing a shirt with a badge emblem and has a Walkie Talkie on his belt. He is applauding before and during the fight and does nothing to stop it.

Avalon's CEO Brian Costello said "We conducted an internal investigation concerning this incident to ensure that staff members were not condoning or supporting any type of fighting whatsoever. Additionally, we put in place procedures to prevent occurrences such as this in the future."

The video ends with the two men on the ground, after both take a beating that lasts a couple of minutes.

Avalon has over 200 state inmates in their downtown center, but the department of corrections says they'll move all of them out within ten days.

The Department of Corrections confirmed the fight video was one element of three ongoing investigations that prompted them to cancel Avalon's contract and move everyone out.

There's no word about what happened to the men in the video, or whether anyone was punished over the incident.

The video appears to have been shot last August.

The Department of Corrections said Avalon lost their contract over evidence of contraband, and questions about security and safety at the Avalon Center.