Holding Cell Fight Leaves Man in Critical Condition

A fight in a courthouse holding cell between two inmates from the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho left one man in critical condition Tuesday with multiple stab wounds, authorities said.

James Prado, 19, a murder suspect, used a homemade knife to stab Etienne Moore, 19, who is charged with assaulting a Baldwin Park police officer, “about 20 times,” said Sgt. Chris Guzetta of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Moore had in his possession a weapon made from a safety razor, authorities said. Both weapons were flushed down a toilet at the Van Nuys Superior Court building before deputies could recover them, Guzetta said.

The fight erupted about 7:15 a.m., within about five minutes after the inmates were brought to the same holding cell.

The fight was the result of nearly two weeks of bickering between the inmates, who reside in the same module “within shouting distance of each other” at the jail’s north county correctional facility in Castaic, Guzetta said.

“My understanding is that this guy has been bragging and chirping about how he almost did in this cop, and the guy just got sick of it,” Guzetta said.

He said the fight was not connected to the ongoing racially motivated brawls that have taken place at the Pitchess jail, a 10,000-inmate facility.

Moore was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in critical but stable condition, said Benita Hinojos, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman.

Prado was taken to the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center, where he was treated for a cut to his left arm.