Free Sparky Rose

EXPLOSIVE NEWS!

A lot has been going on since my last post so let’s dive right in… On April 30th, I was transferred to a new housing unit (32 WEST) here @ Santa Rita Jail. This is a medium security unit (as opposed to 34 EAST which was low security) that is used to house parole violators and, temporarily, federal inmates. It’s the same housing unit I was in after my arrest awaiting bail. The downside is that you lose some privileges in medium security, but it’s a lot more quiet so you can actually get some sleep. The upside is that I should only be here a couple weeks and then I’ll go to one of two local intake facilities for a few days and then fly Con-Air to Oklahoma where they have the central reception facility. I’m not sure how long I will be in OK but I don’t imagine it will be too long. From there I will go to my designated facility (which I currently do not know). So finally, I should be leaving the shithole that is Santa Rita Jail. Something to be happy about.

None of that is really blockbuster so let’s get to the explosion. That’s right, explosion. A few days before I left 34 EAST, @ around 3AM, THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION IN UPPER F POD. I was housed in lower E pod, basically next door. The sound was like a missile hitting the place. The culprit? Pruno. Pruno is like prison moonshine. In short, you take some fruit (we get oranges in our daily lunch) and you put it in a 20 oz. soda bottle and let it sit. The fruit starts to rot and then ferment. Then you add fruit juice and a lot of sugar and let the fermenting run its course. Needless to say, gas builds up in the bottle as a result and if you don’t drain the pressure… well… BOOM! I don’t exactly know how much pressure it takes for one of those bottles to fail or how much force is exerted when it blows, but it’s certainly loud. I know there are some videos on YouTube of people blowing up 2 litre bottles if you’re inclined to get an idea. I think the 20oz bottles can hold more pressure in my opinion. Anyway, some nimrod was making pruno and storing the bottle in his foot locker. He forgot to let out the pressure and, well, it went. On top of 20 ounces of half “cooked” fruit juice and orange scraps lining the inside of his locker, we received our commissary orders just a few hours before. The force of the blast enclosed in a small steel foot locker was enough to rupture every package in there and reduce much of the contents to dust and at the very least unusable.

My favorite part is the reaction of the deputy on duty. Again, this is a thunderous sound. If you set one off in, let’s say, a shopping mall, the entire place would be locked down and bomb squads brought in to search for more bombs, etc. Mass hysteria. So the bottle goes off. About 30 seconds later, the large steel sliding door to the entrance of 34 EAST crawls open and the deputy walks in from the watch tower about 30 feet. He visually scans all six pods, presumably looking for fire, smoke, or body parts and listening for screams of pain, terror, or at least “man down!”. When non of those materialized after a 10 second scan, he left.

I’m not sure what to make of that. I mean, no fire, no blood, I suppose there’s no problem, but if you could comprehend the sound of this thing, I just didn’t see how you can’t investigate. Anyway, the whole thing made for some good conversation over breakfast.

[editor's note: Sparky asked me to post this after the 4/17 letter, which is why these seem out of order. -eddie]

April 15th 2008

My hand is killing me after writing 4 letters this morning but I had to write. I had just finished writing Samantha when I heard screams of ‘Man down! Man down!’ In lower D Pod. A prisoner was having a seizure. It took several prisoners and good 15-20 seconds for so much as an acknowledgment from the watchtower. Then a deputy emerged and WALKED to D pod. D pod is on the opposite side of 34 East from the deputy entrance. The deputy walked with no sense of purpose. He walked at a pace which one might cross a minor city street when queued by the walk sign. ANY slower would be termed lackadaisical. By the time he was half way across the housing unit a second deputy with a nurse in the tow entered. They both walked with purpose but still slower than a geriatric speed walker. No one broke into a jog. Not even for a stride. The prisoners kept shouting, holding the man in his top bunk so he wouldn’t fall. Some gave medical advice, “Put something in his mouth!” The best they could remember from T.V. and urban legend. That was as good as it would get until professionals got there moseying to the emergency. The man was having a seizure. It lasted about 5 minutes. The sick part is that the first deputy on the scene walked OUT with the other deputy, two nurses, and the prisoner in the wheelchair at a MUCH FASTER PACE than he walked in. I should have a better, more refined and intelligent response but using the parlance of our times… what the fuck?

4/17/08

So now you’re in federal prison…
Ok, so not actually. I’m holed up in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, CA waiting to be transferred to the federal reception and orientation center in Oklahoma. Ever see the movie Con-Air? Then you get the picture. From there I should be sent to my as yet to be determined facility. Hopefully, I’ll wind up at Lompoc, CA near Santa Barbara, but Sheridan, OR could be the spot as well. As long as I’m near NorCal, I’ll be happy. While county jail sucks, I managed to get housed with a good group of guys and that makes a big difference. You can’t see this but my pen is totally failing right now so I’m cutting this short. My mailing address and other info on how to send me stuff is below. More to come soon. Peace!

Almost. He’s in Santa Rita jail pending assignment to a federal facility, which may still be some time. Sparky remanded himself to the state on Monday April 7th, 2008 to begin serving a 37 month sentence. With good behavior, he could be out in 31 months. Below is his first missive from behind bars. He would LOVE to hear from you. If you can take a moment to write a snail mail message, he would very much appreciate it and he’ll write you back using a PEN and PAPER. Yes, that mode of communication still exists.

—–

Hello from Santa Rita Jail! Everything is going fine here although the food
really sucks. I got into a unit with a cool group of guys and now I’m
playing the waiting game. My next destination will be Oklahoma where all Fed
inmates go for orientation, sort of a “Welcome! Now you’re in Federal
Prison…” thing. I don’t know when that happens or how long I am there
until I’m placed. The Fed is not known for their communication skills.

To make sure I’m still at Santa Rita Jail, check this site:
<http://www.acgov.org/sheriff_app/inmateSearch.do>

To send me mail:

[ 6/14/08 Sparky is currently in transit to Lompoc and will have an address posted once he arrives. ]