The disturbance involved part of the North County Correctional Facility, a sprawling, 34-acre complex 40 miles north of downtown Los Angeles that includes five large jail buildings housing 4,000 inmates.
Most of the inmates at the North County jail are awaiting trial or being transferred to or from state prison, Baca said.
The Sheriff's Department has hailed the complex, completed in 1990, as a showcase state-of-the-art jail. It is located east of other lockups at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center, known in law enforcement circles as "The Ranch."
Saturday's riot was the latest in a system long plagued by racially motivated violence.
In 2000, in one of the worst incidents, more than 80 inmates, most of them black, were injured and one man was beaten into a coma during several days of violence at the Pitchess Detention Center. As a result, Baca segregated black and Latino inmates for several weeks to try to control the racially motivated violence. But the violence quickly resumed. More than 20 men were hurt, two seriously, in a surge of well-coordinated attacks that came shorty after the black and Latino inmates were re-integrated.
Last year, the department reported 33 major inmate disturbances, including 19 at the North County Correctional Facility.
Saturday's violence was the seventh major incident in the county jail system involving multiple inmates in the last two months, records show.
In the most recent incident Jan. 13, three inmates were hospitalized following a melee at the North County facility that pitted black and Latino inmates against each other, according to a Sheriff's Department report.
On Dec. 27, 62 black and Latino inmates fought at the North County facility. At least six inmates needed medical treatment after the disturbance. The injuries included puncture wounds, head injuries and a dislocated shoulder.
On Dec. 4, 162 black and Latino inmates squared off at the East Facility at the Pitchess center, and 22 inmates suffered minor injuries, according to the Sheriff's Department report.
Twelve inmates were injured Dec. 7 during a fight among black and Latino inmates at the same facility. That disturbance involved 117 inmates.
As is true elsewhere in the jails, Latinos far outnumber black inmates at the North County lockup. Systemwide, the inmate population is 60% Latino and 30% black, Baca said. A racial breakdown for the North County facility was not available.
