A hostage-taking inmate looks over the prison yard moments before surrendering to authorities Sunday, Feb. 1, 2004, at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis, in Buckeye, Ariz. Two inmates who held a female corrections officer hostage for two weeks surrendered Sunday evening. The officer was transported to a Phoenix hospital for treatment of unknown injuries. (AP Photo/Tom Hood)
By PAUL DAVENPORT Associated Press Writer BUCKEYE, Ariz.
Two inmates with a history of violent crime climbed down from a prison guard tower and surrendered after releasing a female captive, peacefully ending the longest U.S. prison hostage standoff in decades.
"In the end, waiting it out paid off," Corrections Department Director Dora Schriro said Sunday following the conclusion of the 15-day drama that left the medium- to high-security Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis in lockdown.
The captive - who was taken hostage with a male colleague Jan. 18 - was still undergoing medical evaluation Monday morning. Her condition wasn't released. Her colleague was released Jan. 24.
"Her voice is exceptionally strong," said Schriro of the guard, whose name was not released. "I would characterize her spirit as being exceptionally strong. To the eyes, she looks well."
Prison officials Sunday identified the hostage-takers as Ricky Wassenaar, 40, and Steven Coy, 39.
Wassenaar is serving 28 years for armed robbery and assault. Coy is serving a life sentence for a 1993 crime spree in Tucson that included armed robbery, aggravated assault and rape.
Corrections officials would not give full details on what led to the surrender, but in one concession, Wassenaar was allowed on Thursday to give an interview to Phoenix radio station KTAR-AM , which broadcast it after the standoff ended.
"It was initially an escape attempt," Wassenaar told the station. "We were on our way out. This was a stopping point to get some arms, firearms, to get out of here. Unfortunately, the plan went bad."
Though Wassenaar said it was an escape attempt, Cam Hunter, a corrections spokeswoman, told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday: "We don't really know what their goal was. ... Whether it was truly an escape attempt or a hostage that was their goal, we don't know."
In another concession, both men were taken into custody by the federal Bureau of Prisons. They had demanded that transfer as a condition for their surrender, said Ivan Bartos, a Department of Corrections spokesman.
A criminal investigation was launched into the standoff, Hunter said. "They will be held accountable for their actions," she said.
The female guard later thanked Schriro for not ordering the tower to be stormed. Gov. Janet Napolitano said she told Schriro: "Thank you for not leaving me. Thank you for not rushing the tower. They would have killed me."
Negotiators had regular contact with the inmates throughout the standoff, and at times had seen the guard or talked to her by telephone.
Throughout the negotiations, prison officials exchanged food, cigarettes and toiletries for ammunition from the tower and opportunities to talk to or see the guards. Many of the early exchanges were done with a robot.
Hunter said officials did not know how the female guard was treated. "These are two very violent criminals and you worry always about a female hostage," she said.
After the standoff ended, officials released information on how the inmates took over the tower.
In the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 18, Wassenaar and Coy were armed with makeshift knives when they were released from their cells to report for duty as part of a kitchen work crew, officials said. Wassenaar approached a corrections officer and a kitchen worker and forced the officer to turn over his uniform and equipment, including handcuffs, the department said.
Coy overcame another officer, restraining him in some manner, and bound a kitchen worker with an electrical cord, officials said.
Coy allegedly sexually assaulted the female kitchen worker, according to a state official who spoke to The Associated Press only on the condition of anonymity.
Wassenaar then directed the rest of the inmate work crew into a storage area and locked the door behind them, corrections officials said. He shaved his beard, put on the officer's uniform and headed for the tower.
One of the two guards in the tower let Wassenaar in, thinking he was a fellow guard, according to the Corrections Department.
Wassenaar then overcame the guards and took them hostage. Coy injured another officer as he was chased toward the tower; he reached the building after Wassenaar opened fire from the base of the tower, officials said.
Wassenaar told KTAR-AM that the eventual release of the male officer was not a result of negotiations.
"Me and my partner sat here and discussed that he was 21 years old, he didn't need to die in here. We kind of discussed his future with him and he pretty much guaranteed us he was going to seek a new occupation. And that was one of the reasons we let him go."
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Associated Press writers Ananda Shorey and Beth DeFalco in Phoenix contributed to this report.
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Last modified: February 02. 2004 11:16AM Back to Top
