Race, Heat, Crowding Blamed in Jail Brawl

Racial tension, warmer weather and a “close environment” were factors in a brawl involving dozens of black and Latino inmates at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic, authorities said Thursday.

One inmate suffered a minor stab wound and four others received cuts and bruises in the Wednesday night melee, which involved “a majority” of the 130 inmates in a maximum-security dormitory at the jail, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Mead.

The 20-minute fight ended when about a dozen helmeted deputies armed with riot clubs appeared at a dormitory entrance. Four homemade knives, or “shanks,” were later found in the barracks, Mead said. The incident marked the second time this month--and the third this year--that Latino and black prisoners have clashed at the sprawling, 8,300-inmate jail, located in a canyon east of the Magic Mountain amusement park.