Racial Brawl at El Cajon Jail Leaves 12 Hurt : Riot: Fight between blacks, Latinos spread throughout cellblock housing 100 inmates in space built for 24.

Twelve inmates were injured, three of them with serious stab wounds, in what was described as a race riot Thursday at the County Jail in El Cajon, the site of numerous riots, fights and jail breaks in the last few years.

One of the injured inmates, identified as Jose Flores, 29, was in critical condition late Thursday night at Sharp Memorial Hospital.

Officials said the fight began about 4:34 p.m. in Cellblock 7A on the seventh floor when a Latino and a black inmate began fighting shortly after dinner. The area was designed with 24 individual cells, but housed 100 inmates on Thursday.

Capt. Ben McLaughlin, supervisor of the jail, said that, as soon as the cellblock fight broke out, “the next thing we knew, everybody had jumped in.”

Twenty-five to 30 inmates joined the melee, which McLaughlin said was divided along racial lines. The fight lasted about 15 minutes until five deputies in riot gear and wielding a Taser gun and a pellet gun entered the area and quieted the disturbance.

“We try to get in there as fast as we can, but we have to follow certain procedures for our own safety,” the captain said.

He said deputies did not use the weapons against the inmates.

“All you have to do is show it to them and they’ll back off,” he said.

The inmates returned to their cells and the entire jail was placed in a lockdown status.

The three serious injuries included one inmate stabbed in the chest, one stabbed in the eye and head area, and a third who suffered stab wounds to a shoulder.

It was unclear what type of weapons were used, but McLaughlin said inmates “can make weapons out of just about anything,” such as broken broom handles and cabinet tops. “There’s quite a bit of material in this jail that can be used for weapons,” he said.

The inmate with the chest injury was flown by helicopter to Sharp Memorial Hospital, while the other 11 inmates were taken by ambulance to various nearby medical facilities.

McLaughlin listed the 12 injured inmates as: Miguel Carrano, Augustine Estrada, Jose Flores, David Gonzales, Marscal Gonzalez, Jose Lopez, Thomas Navarro, Ricardo Perez, Ernesto Reyna, Antonio Sandoval, Christopher Wagner and David Wright. The Sheriff’s Department did not provide their ages, hometowns, degree of injury or where they were taken for medical treatment.

Sheriff’s deputies used a helicopter to search for any possible jail escapees, and moved in special sheriff’s vans ready to take inmates out if the tensions continued to accelerate overnight.

The El Cajon jail has been plagued with riots, inmate abuse and overcrowding, and 10 prisoners have escaped since the nine-story building opened in 1983.

In 1988, when allegations surfaced publicly about deputy sheriffs beating inmates, a group of deputies at the El Cajon jail were nicknamed the Rambo Squad for their abuse of inmates. The county Grand Jury later confirmed that inmates were improperly treated, and six deputies and their supervisors were disciplined.

Times staff writer Richard A. Serrano contributed to this report.