Susanville – On Monday, August
21, 2012, at approximately 1:45 p.m., High Desert State Prison (HDSP), Facility
C Yard #1, had 2 African American inmates engage in a fist fight. The
yard was ordered down and all inmates complied, including the 2 African
American inmates involved in the fight.
Due to the location of the fight the initial responders, approximately
12, ordered a number of inmates to move out of the response path. Two of the inmates being moved were Southern
Hispanic inmates. They were slow to
comply with staff’s orders and move out of the way so staff could safely advance
to the incident. The 2 African American
inmates involved in the fight were removed from the yard without
incident.
Prior to the yard resuming,
2 Officers and a Sergeant went over to remove the Southern Hispanic inmates
from the yard. One inmate was ordered to stand up to be escorted off of
the yard and he stood up and faced one of the Officers. The Officer
ordered the Southern Hispanic inmate to turn around and submit to a clothed
body search; the inmate refused. The inmate also refused orders to submit
to handcuffs. The Officer then ordered the inmate to lie down on the ground and
the inmate struck the Officer in the face, with his fist. The other Officer
utilized his physical strength to force the inmate to the ground and injured
his shoulder taking the inmate down.
At the same time, 7 other Southern
Hispanic inmates to the left of the officers, jumped up and attacked
staff. Then, a group of Southern
Hispanics on the right and a group of Southern Hispanics from behind jumped up
and ran for the staff line that had 5 staff members left. There were 42 Southern Hispanics on the yard
and they all charged the skirmish line, from 3 directions.
Due to the prior incident, secondary
response was located just outside of the facility gate and they entered
Facility C Yard #1. The 8 staff members
on the yard were assaulted and utilized O.C. pepper spray, batons, C.N. and
physical force, as well as a 40MM loaded with XM-1006 Direct Impact Sponge
rounds. The Officer with the 40MM fired
16, XM-1006 rounds into the advancing Southern Hispanic inmates. Responding staff forced the Southern
Hispanics back an additional 2 times. In
all, the Southern Hispanics charged the staff line 3 times.
Due to the magnitude of the
incident and the reasonable belief that the incident would result in great
bodily injury or death, the C-2 Control Booth Officer fired 2 warning shots
from his state-issued Mini-14 rifle into the C Facility Gym wall. In
addition to the Mini-14, there were multiple less lethal force options used by
multiple staff members.
All injured staff and inmates
were taken to the Correctional Treatment Center (CTC) and 7 staff members and 1
inmate were transported to Banner Lassen Medical Center where they were treated
and released for minor injuries.
The case is under
investigation by the Lassen County District Attorney’s Office and the Investigative
Services Unit at HDSP. The Office of the
Inspector General’s Bureau of Independent review was notified.
High Desert State Prison,
located in Lassen County, opened in 1995 and houses 3,696 minimum-, medium-,
and maximum-custody inmates. The institution provides academic classes and
vocational instruction and employs more than 1,275 people.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2012
Contact: Lt. Nick Albonico
(530) 251-5100
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