Garner Prisoners Involved In Two Violent Incidents

 By Andrew Gorosko

Authorities report that two violent incidents occurred this week at Garner Correctional Institution, the state’s high-security prison on Nunnawauk Road, which houses about 675 inmates.

State police said inmate Craig Hoth, 40, stabbed inmate Billy Santos, 27, during an altercation in the recreation area of a cellblock at the prison at about 2:30 pm on May 23.

Santos was transported by ambulance to Danbury Hospital, where he was admitted as a patient, state police said. State police charged Hoth with first-degree assault, breach of peace, criminal mischief, and possession of a weapon in a correctional institution.

Hoth was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on May 24 in Danbury Superior Court.

Stacy Smith, a state Department of Correction (DOC) spokeswoman said May 26 that Santos returned to Garner after receiving hospital care.

In the attack, Hoth used a “handmade sharpened piece of metal” to stab Santos, Ms Smith said.

Both Hoth and Santos are serving sentences in Garner on murder convictions. Hoth was sentenced to a 60-year prison term in 1996. Santos was sentenced to a 40-year prison term in 1994.

At about 11 am on May 25, inmate Vincent Debarros, 28, assaulted a prison counselor, punching the man in the head, Ms Smith said. State police charged DeBarros with assault and also with assault on an officer, she said.

Ms Smith did not disclose the counselor’s identity. He “required outside medical treatment,” Ms Smith said. The seriousness of the counselor’s injuries was unclear.

Debarros is being held in Garner on $127,000 bail on “accused status,” awaiting the disposition of pending criminal charges. The controlling criminal charge against Debarros is breach of peace. He was admitted to the prison system in September 2002.

In another matter, the DOC has disclosed the identity of an inmate who died in a violent incident at Garner on the afternoon of May 19.

Deceased is Dennis G. Kinsman, 47, of Manchester.

State police are investigating the circumstances surrounding Kinsman’s death, as is the DOC.

Kinsman was being held on “accused status” on $70,000 bail on a controlling criminal charge of disorderly conduct. Kinsman was awaiting the disposition of his criminal case in court. He had entered the state prison system last August 12.

At approximately 3:15 pm, Kinsman “became physically disruptive and assaultive…As staff attempted to gain control of the inmate, he suffered apparent cardiac arrest,” a DOC spokesman has said. Kinsman was transported to Danbury Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 4:30 pm.

A spokeswoman for the state medical examiner’s office said on May 26 that the full autopsy that was performed on Kinsman was inconclusive.

The medical examiner’s investigation into the death is “pending further study,” including the results of toxicology tests, the spokeswoman said.

The Western District Major Crime Squad is investigating the Kinsman death for state police.

The Public Safety Committee for Garner Correctional Institution is scheduled to hold its regular quarterly meeting at 5 pm on June 1 at Booth Library at 25 Main Street. The panel meets to discuss public safety issues posed by the presence of Garner, which opened in November 1992.

Garner is becoming the state’s prime facility to house prisoners with psychiatric disorders.