CASTAIC : Inmates Transferred After Jail Brawl
One prisoner was injured in a brief melee at a maximum-security jail in Castaic that caused the transfer of nearly 100 inmates, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said Friday.
The inmates were moved from the North Facility of Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho to other buildings Wednesday following a five-minute fight that began with a confrontation between two Latino inmates and a black inmate in a dormitory, Lt. William Dunn said. The fight spread along racial lines and quickly grew to 20 inmates.
The men used phone receivers, lighting fixtures and a suggestion box to club each other, Dunn said. The cause of the dispute was unknown.
Sheriff’s deputies threw three sting grenades to break up the fight, Dunn said. The grenades spray rubber pellets that stun inmates.
An inmate who suffered a puncture wound to his chest in the fight was treated at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia, Dunn said. Several other inmates suffered cuts and bruises and were treated at the facility.
It was the latest in a string of fights between black and Latino inmates at the jail. Four inmates were injured in a July 5 brawl between blacks and Latinos.
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