CASTAIC : 6 Hurt in Fight Over Jail Bed Assignment
Six county jail inmates suffered minor injuries in a race-related melee that began as a dispute over a bed assignment at a dorm in the Peter Pitchess Honor Rancho, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.
A fight erupted about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday after a black and a Latino inmate argued about the bed assignment. Other inmates quickly joined in, taking sides along racial lines, Deputy Diane Hecht said.
Most of the 92 inmates housed in the dorm at the jail’s north facility took part in the melee, Hecht said.
The inmates, armed with broomsticks and homemade knives called shanks, fought for about six minutes before deputies in riot gear arrived, she said.
The deputies tossed two “stingball” grenades that burst open and stung prisoners with rubber pellets, bringing the fight to an end, Hecht said.
Six inmates suffered minor injuries in the fight, Hecht said. Five suffered head cuts while the other was stabbed in the stomach. They were treated at a jail clinic.
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