Castaic Inmates Briefly Seize Dorms at Jail

Nearly 1,000 inmates briefly seized control of their dormitories at the Peter Pitchess Honor Rancho on Wednesday during a brawl between white and black prisoners before deputies put down the uprising with rubber bullets and tear gas.

Inmates drove deputies from the Castaic jail’s South Facility dormitories for about 30 minutes after an apparent race riot began at 11:30 p.m. Prisoners smashed toilets and windows and threw “whatever they could find” at deputies who tried to restore order, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. James Whitten said.

“It was not pretty,” Whitten said of the violence that injured about 30 inmates. “We vacated the compound because we did not have enough deputies to ensure our own safety.”

Jail officials could not confirm whether the melee was prompted by the acquittal hours earlier of four white officers accused of beating black motorist Rodney G. King, which led to riots and looting throughout Southern California.

“It’s hard to know what’s going on inside someone’s head,” Whitten said, adding that fights among inmates at the jail have become almost common occurrences in recent months.

Wednesday’s brawl began after a brief power failure cloaked the facility in darkness and cut the last minutes of a televised Los Angeles Lakers basketball game. Deputies saw several white inmates run from their dormitory into a central courtyard, shouting for protection from black prisoners.

Whitten said deputies attempted to separate the inmates by race, but the fighting spread to other dormitories. The inmates refused to return to their bunks and began attacking deputies, who quickly retreated.

Within 30 minutes, the facility was surrounded by 150 California Highway Patrol officers and deputies from other sheriff’s stations. About 80 deputies in riot gear then re-entered the compound and quelled the rioting, firing rubber bullets at inmates and hurling “sting ball” grenades, which spray an area with stinging rubber pellets. Whitten said tear gas also was used.

None of the inmates were seriously injured, although about 30 were treated for cuts and bruises, Whitten said. None of the deputies were hurt.

About 400 inmates were transferred to other county jail facilities.