By Kat Russell, The Gazette
CEDAR RAPIDS — An inmate, who is being held at Linn County Jail for federal authorities, has been charged for breaking off the sprinkler head in his jail cell, authorities said.
Jose E. Victor, 28, of Cedar Rapids, faces a charge of second-degree criminal mischief, according to the criminal complaint. Damage to the facility’s first-floor isolation area was estimated at more than $1,000.
The charge, according to Jail Administrator Maj. Pete Wilson, came Friday. At 10:35 p.m. Thursday, Wilson said, Victor used a shirt to break the fire-suppression sprinkler in his jail cell.
The break caused the facility’s sprinkler system to “put out several hundred gallons of water into his cell, causing water to flood into the rest of the first-floor isolation area,” according to the complaint.
The water also spilled into the cells in Victor’s immediate area, and the water line to the facility’s fire-suppression system was shut down while the damage was repaired.
The jail administrator said no cells had to be evacuated and no one was injured.
Other than the broken sprinkler head, Wilson said there was no permanent damage caused to the facility.
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