Brawl Blamed on Can of Spray Paint

A dispute over a can of spray paint may have ignited racial tensions and led to a brawl at the Fenner Canyon Youth Conservation Camp, resulting in 10 inmates being treated for injuries at hospitals in the Antelope Valley, authorities said Friday.

About 32 inmates--mostly Latinos and Asians--who were involved in the Thursday night melee were transferred Friday to a maximum-security youth training facility in Chino, said Simon Cabrera, assistant superintendent at Fenner.

Staff members rushed into a dormitory and used Mace to break up the fight, and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were called to the camp at Llano, east of Palmdale, to quell the disturbance. The inmates used mop handles, chairs and wooden clocks as weapons, officials said.

Cabrera said the brawl was a “racial disturbance” that may have been rooted in an incident earlier this week when staff members searched the dorm for a missing can of spray paint, which inmates sniff. A Latino inmate who had the spray can apparently hid it under an Asian inmate’s bunk, he said.

The camp, operated by the California Youth Authority, provides crews to aid fire departments throughout the state. Those at the camp, including many gang members, were convicted in Juvenile Court of crimes such as car theft, burglary and drug offenses.