14 Injured in Pitchess Jail Brawl
A Thursday morning melee involving 110 inmates ended a month of calm between African Americans and Latinos at the riot-plagued Pitchess jail, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported.
Fourteen inmates were injured in the fight, which broke out in a dormitory at 1:05 a.m. Black and Latino inmates battled with broom handles, light fixtures and telephone receivers, said Deputy George Ducoulombier of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
Ducoulombier said two emergency response teams separated the combatants in six minutes using sting-ball grenades, which explode in a spray of hard rubber pellets intended to stun without causing serious injury.
The cause of the conflict was still under investigation.
Five of the injured were transported to County/USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, two for X-rays and three for treatment of cuts. The other nine were treated at the jail clinic, Ducoulombier said.
The four facilities that make up the jail have been beset by racial and gang fighting for several years. After five brawls broke out over a two-week period in August, the pace of the confrontations has slowed.
Ducoulombier said the most recent major disturbance occurred Sept. 16.
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