Internal Investigation Clears Jail Guards : Prison: Allegations that white deputies formed a racist gang at Pitchess Honor Rancho are unfounded, a sheriff’s probe concludes.

Allegations that white guards at a Castaic jail formed a gang called the “Wayside Whities” and intimidated and beat black inmates are unfounded, according to an internal investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The six-month investigation determined that the name “Wayside Whities” was coined by black gang members as a mocking ganglike label for white deputies who serve as guards at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho. A black inmate told deputies about the nickname and taught some deputies a ganglike hand signal simulating the letter W.

Investigators said two deputies acknowledged flashing the signal at black inmates a “couple” of times, but it was not done in an intimidating manner. The internal affairs investigation concluded that no sheriff’s policies or regulations were violated by the deputies and no disciplinary action has been taken.

The investigation at the Pitchess jail--formerly named the Wayside Honor Rancho--was prompted by a complaint from a former inmate who said he was beaten by a guard group called the “Wayside Whities” who deliberately broke his leg.

Clydell Crawford, 26, of West Covina, has filed a $1-million civil rights lawsuit against Sheriff Sherman Block and 12 deputies, describing the “Whities” as a “Ku Klux Klan-type organization” dedicated to the “subjugation, intimidation and terrorization” of black inmates.

“The investigation didn’t show anything like that at all,” said Sgt. Edward Allen of the sheriff’s Internal Affairs Division, who headed the investigation.

Allen said the term “Wayside Whities” originated with a black inmate being interviewed by a deputy from the Gang Identification Unit about gang habits. The inmate told the deputy that gang members in the jail had a gang nickname for white guards.

“The inmates developed the hand sign . . . to taunt the deputies,” Allen said.

The Internal Affairs Division also concluded that deputies unintentionally broke Crawford’s leg in a scuffle after he attacked a deputy.

Crawford’s attorney, George V. Denny, disputed the sheriff’s findings and said he will continue to press the lawsuit.