Judi Villa and Emily Bittner, The Arizona Republic
BUCKEYE, Arizona -- Air space was restricted Thursday morning over the Lewis prison facility, where two inmates have been holding two corrections officers hostage for four days.
Prison officials said air traffic, including media helicopters, was disrupting negotiations.
“Sometimes the most innocent thing could derail something that’s taken hours to be put in place,” said Ivan Bartos, warden of state prison complex in Yuma.
Negotiators continued to talk to the inmates Thursday morning and officials described those conversations as “positive.” A couple dozen negotiators are on the team trying to secure the release of the corrections officers.
A constant flow of law enforcement officers, helicopters and armored vehicles has been coming into the prison complex since the siege began Sunday morning.
“The only successful end to this will be a negotiated end,” said prison spokeswoman Cam Hunter, “but they have to be ready for any contingency.”
The officers have been held since 5 a.m. Sunday after a melee broke out in the kitchen at the prison’s Morey unit. Two officers and a kitchen worker were wounded. A series of security breakdowns then allowed the inmates to take control of a watchtower, where they have holed up since.
The air space was restricted at 9:45 a.m. today for a three-mile radius around the prison facility. Aircraft also cannot fly lower than 5,000 feet.
Negotiators were allowed to see each of the officers briefly Tuesday afternoon through a window. They also spoke with them on the radio. Hunter said that was “a tremendous morale boost” and “a sign that negotiations are effective.”
“It’s an indication that negotiations are going down the right path,” Bartos said.
Still, Hunter said the situation at Arizona’s second largest prison remains volatile and sensitive.
“They’re going to ride this thing out as long as it takes until we get our officers back safely,” she said.