LOCAL : 15 Injured in Barracks Brawl at Peter Pitchess Honor Rancho

About 15 inmates were injured during a melee in which mop and broom handles were used as weapons at Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho in Saugus, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported.

The disturbance broke out at 9:15 p.m. Monday in a barracks in the medium-security South Facility, Deputy Pat Hunter said. About 40 inmates were involved in fighting, and several deputies rushed to the barracks from other facilities at the detention center. The fighting was quelled in about 15 minutes. No deputies were injured.

Hunter said the cause of the disturbance is unknown. About 60 inmates in the barracks did not take part in the fighting. He said that those engaged in the fighting were black and Latino inmates but that it is unknown whether racial tensions caused the flare-up.

Those injured in the fight suffered bruises and head injuries and were treated at the South Facility clinic. None required hospitalization.

Late Monday the inmates involved in the disturbance were transferred to several different barracks at other facilities.