San Fernando Valley : 25 Inmates Hurt in Fighting at Pitchess Jail

Two racial brawls that broke out Wednesday in a dormitory of the Pitchess jail complex in Castaic injured 25 inmates, seven of whom were taken to hospitals with serious injuries, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

The first fight broke out about 8 a.m. when 124 African American and Latino inmates came to blows in a dormitory in the east facility of the Pitchess Honor Rancho, deputy Carrie Stuart said.

Deputies used verbal commands and three “stingball” grenades--which hurl shrapnel of hard rubber pellets--to break up the brawl after five minutes, and recovered jail-made knives and pieces of glass.

Fifteen inmates were injured, four with wounds serious enough to place them in local hospitals, including a prisoner who underwent surgery for a stab wound in the back, Stuart said.

A few minutes after 1 p.m., the second fight broke out, but this time the 114 battlers stopped when deputies shouted for them to cease, Stuart said. Ten inmates were injured in the fight, three seriously, one with a possible broken jaw.

Stuart said the fights seemed related and that the causes were under investigation.

The brawls were the latest in a series of scores of such fights between Latino and African American prisoners that have plagued the jail for several years.