3 Injured in Melee Over Jail Beds
One man was stabbed and two others were also injured at the county jail here after a group of Anglo inmates refused to “pay rent” to Latinos for the use of their own jail beds, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said Thursday.
The six-minute fight among 18 to 30 inmates erupted at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, sending one man to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital with minor chest wounds from a jail-made knife, deputies said.
Two inmates were taken to USC-County Medical Center, one with a broken leg and the other with minor head wounds, authorities said.
No cash is allowed in the prison and exactly what kind of payment was being demanded for the use of the assigned bunks is under investigation, said Deputy Jim Hellmond said.
Deputies were able to quell the fight--the latest in a series of frequent racial brawls at the jail--simply by entering the barracks and shouting for the mayhem to stop, Hellmond said. Only one man failed to comply, and he was subdued with pepper spray, Hellmond added.
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