Former Nashville juvenile detention center guard speaks out on conditions inside

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Fifteen teens attempted to escape from the Stones River Academy Juvenile Detention Center in Donelson on October 10th, 2019.

All of them were caught, but now a former employee who was in the building at the time is speaking out about what happened and sharing video from the incident.

“It was like a riot had started,” the former guard says.

In a series of cell-phone videos, you can see a kid trying to break down the door by running into it before, unsuccessfully, trying to break off the lock by repeatedly hitting it with a small heater and later hitting the door with a chair.

“They just going around beating on the doors, kicking the doors; they have shirts wrapped around their faces. They’re smoking cigarettes and basically throwing bleach on the floor, emptying out the drawers back in the therapist’s office and throwing stuff out.”

This person says one of the kids sprayed a fire extinguisher everywhere.

“Once I told him to stop, he told me to 'back up, b, or I’m going to spray you.’”

Another video shows a kid emptying out a box and pouring the contents out on the floor.

This person says the facility has more than 40 kids but claims it is unsafe.

“I wouldn't even want my dog to in that place like, I’m serious, like it's a dangerous place for anybody to have their kids at.”

The former guard says the facility is very unsecure, this being the third escape just this year.

A couple of teens escaped in March, and five more in July.

They have all been taken back into custody.

According to its website, the Stones River Academy offers mental health and substance abuse services as well as medical and psychiatric services, behavioral management, and specialized life-skills training, among others.

The guard also said kids tore out the cameras which posed an even greater security risk.