Five O.C. Sheriff’s Deputies were attacked by inmates at the OC Central Men’s Jail on Thursday

A scary situation developed at the Orange County Central Men’s Jail, which is located in Santa Ana at 550 N Flower St., this Thursday morning, at around 7:30 a.m., as the prisoners turned on five Orange County sheriff’s deputies, who were injured and hospitalized after the attack, according to the O.C. Register.

The inmates were exchanging clothing and sheets in a hallway at the jail when an fight broke out and the inmates then attacked the deputies, according to the sheriff’s department said.

One of the inmates ended up with moderate injuries. He was hospitalized. The rest of the inmates were medically assessed and cleared to return to their jail cells.

The jail was placed on lockdown while the incident was investigated.

Sheriff-elect Don Barnes claims that assaults at the jail have increased since AB 109 passed in 2011, which resulted in some state prisoners being transferred to county jails, according to ABC News.

Assaults have doubled to almost 65 per year since AB 109 passed. There were an average of 26.8 inmate assaults on staff per year before this bill passed.

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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