Nation IN BRIEF : INDIANA : 2 Inmates Give Up in Hostage-Taking

Two inmates surrendered control of a county jail in Connersville, Ind., after police SWAT teams entered the building where three fellow inmates were being held hostage. No one was harmed. A secretary and three guards had been released earlier. Police shut off electricity at the Fayette County Jail before crawling in through holes cut in the windows. Sheriff’s Col. Claude Trent entered and persuaded Bill Corn and John Purcell to give up the gun they used to begin the 17-hour standoff. The pair also freed two women and a man. As trusties, the two had access to most of the jail, and Mull said they used keys they found on a table to get a revolver from a gun locker. Corn said in a telephone interview that the takeover was to protest the way prisoners are treated. Prosecutor Cynthia Crispman said she expected the men would be charged with several counts of kidnaping. About 80 inmates were held in the jail, but most remained locked in their cells during the standoff, officials said.