Authorities are investigating after former New England Patriots tight end and murder suspect Aaron Hernandez was involved in an altercation with another inmate at a Massachusetts jail on Tuesday, according to Bristol County Jail Sheriff Thomas Hodgson.
Hernandez, a Bristol, Conn. native, and the other inmate were both housed in the same special management unit in Bristol County Jail in New Bedford, Mass. and only one inmate is allowed out at a time, Hodgson said.
"We're investigating it now to find out why two inmates would have been out at the same time in that unit," Hodgson said, adding that he does not want to comment until the investigation is complete.
"Suffiice it to say that I am not happy there may have been a breakdown in our system, in our protocols," he added.
Hodgson told WJAR in Providence that the Sheriff's Department is conducting an internal investigation into the incident that will take about a day-and-a-half to complete, depending on what investigators find.
He does not believe anyone was injured during the encounter.
Hernandez could face criminal charges as a result of the investigation and have the time he's allowed out of his cell reduced from three hours to one hour per day, Hodgson told WJAR.
The details of the altercation are unclear. Hernandez will remain in the same housing unit overnight, according to WJAR.
Hernandez is accused of murdering semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd in North Attleboro, Mass., last year and has pleaded not guilty.
He has also been linked to an unsolved 2012 drive-by double homicide in Boston.
Photo Credit: Boston Globe via Getty Images