LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) — Nearly 80 inmates at a jail in Los Angeles were involved in a violent fight Wednesday afternoon, injuring at least seven of them, sheriff’s department officials said on Thursday. There were no serious injuries.
The incident began at about 3:30 p.m. local time when four inmates began fighting in a housing pod in Tower I of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles. Other inmates then became involved and the 78 inmates in the housing pod divided along racial lines, further escalating tensions.
“Deputies ordered the inmates to stop fighting, but the inmates did not comply,” a Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman said on Thursday. “Deputies used pepper spray and sting balls to quell the disturbance and the inmates stopped fighting. No other force was used by deputies.”
It was not immediately clear what led to the riot, which lasted approximately fifteen minutes.
Jail medical professionals treated all 78 inmates for exposure to pepper spray, and seven of them were transported to an area hospital for minor to moderate injuries. Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott said another inmate was transported to hospital for injuries unrelated to the riot, but gave no other details.
