Jail Inmate Faces New Charges After Damaging Sprinkler Heads
Staff Report
WARSAW — A Kosciusko County Jail inmate faces six new criminal charges after damaging multiple sprinkler heads, causing damage to the jail and county justice building.
Gabriel Patino Jr., 35, 340 E. Levi Lee Road 204, Warsaw, is charged with criminal mischief, a level 6 felony; three counts of criminal mischief, all class A misdemeanors; and two counts of disorderly conduct, both class B misdemeanors.
On April 5, Patino was incarcerated in the Kosciusko County Jail. Surveillance video showed Patino going into a room in a jail block. A short time later, Patino exits the room while water is spraying from a sprinkler head. In the video, water can be seen flowing from a balcony onto the jail block’s main floor.
According to court documents, Patino is then seen on surveillance video entering one of the jail’s bathroom areas and breaking a sprinkler head. He later entered a hallway between two jail blocks and broke a third sprinkler head. The water from the sprinkler heads flooded the jail block. Patino also entered the block’s shower room and damaged a sprinkler head, which had to be replaced due to the damage. Damage from the April 5 incidents caused a pecuniary loss in excess of $750 but less than $50,000.
On April 6, Patino was placed in a holding cell in the Kosciusko County Justice Building, which is adjacent to the Kosciusko Superior Court 4 offices and across from the Superior Court 4 courtroom. Patino is shown on video removing his jail uniform and swinging it toward a sprinkler head. After several attempts, Patino broke the sprinkler head, causing water to flood the cell. Water from the holding cell flooded the hallway and the Superior Court 4 courtroom.
The water also flowed down to the county’s clerk’s office supply room and into the basement of the justice building, causing approximately $18,000 in damage. Also, as a result of the damage caused by Patino, the jail was without water for about 12 hours; this deprived the inmates and the employees of access to, and severely impaired, a public utility. This also caused a substantial impairment to the jail’s fire suppression system.
Patino is currently booked in KCJ for this case.