North County Correctional Facility

Thirteen inmates suffered minor injuries Saturday morning in two racially charged disturbances between black and Latino inmates at the North County Correctional Facility, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman said. The first fight began inside dormitory 811 at 8:10 a.m. and involved 30 to 40 inmates, said Sgt. George Ducoulombier. After two minutes, deputies broke up the fight by using verbal commands and a sting-ball grenade, which shoots small rubber pellets.

Prosecutors charged an attorney with half a dozen felony counts for allegedly trying to smuggle heroin into an L.A. County jail inside a greeting card. Stephen Beecher, 61, who was arrested April 9, faces counts including conspiracy, bringing drugs into jail, transportation of a controlled substance and bringing a firearm into a jail, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. The Sherman Oaks resident was released on bail Thursday and scheduled to be arraigned May 1 in a downtown courtroom.

Six inmates suffered minor injuries in a racial brawl Sunday at the North County Correctional Facility, sheriff's deputies reported. The fight, which started just before 8 a.m. Sunday, was the latest in a long series of racially motivated disturbances at the jail at the Pitchess Detention Center. It pitted "blacks versus Hispanics versus whites," Deputy Carrie Stuart said. Inmates kicked and hit each other before the fight was quelled, five minutes after it started.

The inmate's request seemed fairly benign inside the teeming, violent Los Angeles County jail. He wanted Sheriff's Deputy Peter Paul Felix to smuggle him in some decent food. The deputy knew he was breaking the rules, but he obliged. What started with hamburgers and pizza led steadily to more requests until the inmate asked Felix to perform another favor: smuggle in a marijuana package in exchange for about $600. That delivery into the Castaic jail would be the first in a months-long series of drug carries the deputy made, netting thousands of dollars in the process.

Sheriff's deputies Wednesday reported the first fight-related inmate death at the North County Correctional Facility, marking the latest incident in a series of racially motivated brawls plaguing the county's sprawling Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic. Four brawls have been reported at the jail since the beginning of the year, including one that involved almost 100 inmates. Thomas E.

Twenty-one county jail inmates suffered minor injuries Sunday during two separate race-related brawls at the North County Correctional Facility, authorities said. The fights, involving about 100 African American and Latino inmates, erupted within five minutes of each other shortly after 8:30 a.m., said Sgt. David Halm, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

Twenty-one county jail inmates suffered minor injuries Sunday during two race-related brawls at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic, authorities said. The fights, which involved about 100 black and Latino inmates, erupted within five minutes of each other just after 8:30 a.m., said Sgt. David Halm, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman. No weapons were used during either of the brawls, which occurred in different sections of the jail, authorities said.

Sheriff's deputies Sunday were investigating an apparent racial brawl at the county jail in which seven inmates suffered minor injuries. The fight, which involved as many as 40 African American and Latino inmates, erupted shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday at the North County Correctional Facility, the Sheriff's Department said. The fight lasted about five minutes before deputies were able to restore order using verbal commands, according to a statement released by the Sheriff's Department.

A brawl Tuesday between 45 African-American and Hispanic inmates at the North County Correctional Facility in Saugus left two prisoners hospitalized and one with minor injuries, a sheriff's official said. Two inmates were stabbed in the back and abdomen with at least one "jail-made shank" in a dormitory, sheriff's spokeswoman Irma Becerra said. The pair, who were not identified, were reported in stable condition at an area hospital following the 12:45 a.m.

At least seven inmates at the North County Correctional Facility became ill Saturday after eating rice that had accidentally been laced with diluted disinfectant cleaning solution, authorities said. About 49 inmates from dorm No. 524 were eating dinner at the facility when deputy and medical personnel ordered them to stop eating, said Sgt. Brenda Cambra. The men were told to drink water and milk, she said. Paramedics were called in as a precaution and as of 9:05 p.m.

The inmate's request seemed fairly benign inside the teeming, violent Los Angeles County jail. He wanted Sheriff's Deputy Peter Paul Felix to smuggle him in some decent food. The deputy knew he was breaking the rules, but he obliged. What started with hamburgers and pizza led to steadily more requests until the inmate asked Felix to perform another favor: smuggle in a marijuana package in exchange for about $600. That delivery into the Castaic jail would be the first in a months-long series of drug carries the deputy made, netting thousands of dollars in the process.

As county jail administrators have struggled with a staffing shortage and funding crisis, violence among prisoners has nearly doubled in the past three years at the North County Correctional Facility, the site of a weekend riot that left one inmate dead and dozens injured. Inmate-on-inmate assaults at the Castaic facility rose from 351 in 2003 to 614 last year.

At least seven inmates at the North County Correctional Facility became ill Saturday after eating rice that had accidentally been laced with diluted disinfectant cleaning solution, authorities said. About 49 inmates from dorm No. 524 were eating dinner at the facility when deputy and medical personnel ordered them to stop eating, said Sgt. Brenda Cambra. The men were told to drink water and milk, she said. Paramedics were called in as a precaution and as of 9:05 p.m.

Thirteen inmates suffered minor injuries Saturday morning in two racially charged disturbances between black and Latino inmates at the North County Correctional Facility, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman said. The first fight began inside dormitory 811 at 8:10 a.m. and involved 30 to 40 inmates, said Sgt. George Ducoulombier. After two minutes, deputies broke up the fight by using verbal commands and a sting-ball grenade, which shoots small rubber pellets.

Twenty-one county jail inmates suffered minor injuries Sunday during two separate race-related brawls at the North County Correctional Facility, authorities said. The fights, involving about 100 African American and Latino inmates, erupted within five minutes of each other shortly after 8:30 a.m., said Sgt. David Halm, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

Twenty-one county jail inmates suffered minor injuries Sunday during two race-related brawls at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic, authorities said. The fights, which involved about 100 black and Latino inmates, erupted within five minutes of each other just after 8:30 a.m., said Sgt. David Halm, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman. No weapons were used during either of the brawls, which occurred in different sections of the jail, authorities said.

Prosecutors charged an attorney with half a dozen felony counts for allegedly trying to smuggle heroin into an L.A. County jail inside a greeting card. Stephen Beecher, 61, who was arrested April 9, faces counts including conspiracy, bringing drugs into jail, transportation of a controlled substance and bringing a firearm into a jail, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. The Sherman Oaks resident was released on bail Thursday and scheduled to be arraigned May 1 in a downtown courtroom.

Four prisoners suffered minor wounds early Tuesday in two separate fights between black and Latino inmates at the jail facility in Castaic, authorities said. Two crudely made knives, called "shanks" in jail jargon, were confiscated after the fights and no deputies were injured, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. Both incidents were in the maximum security North County Correctional Facility at the Peter Pitchess Honor Rancho. The first incident, about 12:45 a.m.

Sheriff's deputies Sunday were investigating an apparent racial brawl at the county jail in which seven inmates suffered minor injuries. The fight, which involved as many as 40 African American and Latino inmates, erupted shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday at the North County Correctional Facility, the Sheriff's Department said. The fight lasted about five minutes before deputies were able to restore order using verbal commands, according to a statement released by the Sheriff's Department.

Six inmates suffered minor injuries in a racial brawl Sunday at the North County Correctional Facility, sheriff's deputies reported. The fight, which started just before 8 a.m. Sunday, was the latest in a long series of racially motivated disturbances at the jail at the Pitchess Detention Center. It pitted "blacks versus Hispanics versus whites," Deputy Carrie Stuart said. Inmates kicked and hit each other before the fight was quelled, five minutes after it started.