On September 30, 2025, Wright County Sheriff’s Deputy Block received a report of criminal damage to property that occurred at the Wright County Jail in Buffalo, Wright County, Minnesota. He spoke with Jail Sergeant Clanton, who indicated the sprinkler in Abdirhim Dereje Kebede [DOB REDACTED] (hereinafter “the defendant”)’s cell was damaged on September 29, 2025. Sgt. Clanton said sprinklers are placed flush with the wall and high enough so that someone would have to stand on a bed or sink to reach the sprinkler head.
Sgt. Clanton said the jail has not had any issues with sprinklers going off without someone tampering with them. Sgt. Clanton indicated that the inmate in the cell located above the defendant’s cell was kicking the cell door repeatedly around 12:15 P.M. On September 29, 2025, so staff believed the defendant damaged the sprinkler in the defendant’s cell so the defendant would be moved to a new cell and away from the noise. In a Mirandized statement to Deputy Block, the defendant said the sprinkler started to spray water into his cell so he went to the microphone to alert jail staff.
He denied tampering with the sprinkler head. Deputy Block spoke with M. P. A., a repairman who worked on the sprinkler after the incident. M. P. A. Said that in his time working on repairs in the jail, there has never been an issue with a sprinkler going off on its own. While repairing this sprinkler, M. P. A. Noticed multiple pieces of the sprinkler head on the floor. In M. P. A.’s experience, there would be no way for the sprinkler to break into pieces without someone trying to damage or pry it.
The value of the sprinkler was $150, and the cost of labor to repair it was $1,200.
