The State - News from Aug. 25, 1986

Guards used tear gas to force 23 maximum-security inmates to return to their cells from an exercise yard at Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy, a prison spokesman said. The incident began when separate groups of black and Latino inmates refused to return to their cells after an exercise period, spokesman Art Calderon said. He said the inmates relented after guards fired seven rounds of tear gas at them. One inmate was slightly injured when part of a gas grenade hit him in the ankle, Calderon said. Calderon said officials have not determined a motive for the inmates’ action, but were “convinced they had it all planned.” He said the inmates placed handkerchiefs over their faces shortly after refusing to return to their cells, as if they expected tear gas to be used.