5 staff members injured at Golden youth detention complex during series of violent incidents

Five staff members at the Campus at Lookout Mountain, a collection of three juvenile detention centers in Golden, were injured last week while responding to a series of violent incidents inside the facilities, according to police.

The incidents took place over three days, between Feb. 10 and 12, Golden police said.

At least two of the employees were hospitalized with injuries while trying to intervene as three young people threw televisions and other items at glass windows inside a pod, police said Friday. The Colorado Division of Youth Services, however, denied that any staffers were hospitalized.

DYS, which oversees Colorado’s 14 youth detention facilities, said a “small number” of youth sustained minor injuries. They were treated and returned to their living units the same day.

On Feb. 10, someone intentionally pulled a fire alarm, allowing multiple teens to exit the buildings and run through the interior of the complex, police said. However, DYS officials said the fire alarm was “self-activated by a sensor in a laundry room.”

“Many were noncompliant with staff and officers,” Stephanie Sipes, a Golden Police Department spokeswoman, said in an email.

One youth brandished a small homemade weapon and got into a physical altercation with a staff member, police said. The situation eventually calmed down and all young people were escorted back to their buildings. No injuries were reported in that incident.

One teen was arrested and charged with a litany of offenses, including second-degree assault and menacing, police said.

Two days later, one teen became physical with staff and another kicked out a door window before damaging property, authorities said. Three staff members were injured trying to intervene and detain the teens.

Lookout Mountain used to house four separate facilities where youth are incarcerated, but the state closed one earlier this month due to low numbers of staff and youth.

In 2019, there were five high-profile security issues at the Golden complex, including a staff member arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography, multiple escapes by violent juveniles and a riot between rival gangs, which injured three staff members.

The following year, the state split up Lookout Mountain into four distinct facilities, following evidence from other states that shows better outcomes at smaller centers.

Updated 5:20 p.m. Feb. 21, 2025: This story has been updated to include additional information provided by the Division of Youth Services disputing some aspects of the Golden Police Department’s account.

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