Inmate dies after LA jail fight between blacks and Hispanics

"We are in the process of getting all the prisoners we can out of here and into the state prison system," Klugman said Monday.

The latest inmate death occurred Sunday afternoon after a fight between four Hispanic and two black prisoners in a six-man cell at the downtown Men's Central Jail.

A 38-year-old black inmate collapsed and died after the fight. Another black inmate was killed Feb. 4 in racial fighting at the Pitchess Detention Center's North Facility in Castaic, north of Los Angeles.

In Sunday's incident deputies broke up the fight with verbal commands, and removed the injured black prisoner when he complained of pain, Deputy Alba Yates said.

While en route to the jail's clinic, the inmate collapsed. Paramedics tried to revive him, but were unsuccessful and pronounced him dead at the scene, Yates said.

Officials were not yet releasing the man's name or more information on his injuries, Yates said. The other black inmate involved in the fight was treated for minor injures.

The county jail system, which held 18,425 inmates as of Monday morning, remained on lockdown, meaning restricted movement within the jails and a loss of privileges like visiting rights, said Yates.

"We are trying to stop all this fighting," she said.

Trouble continued Sunday at the Pitchess Detention Center, with two large scuffles between blacks and Hispanics, officials said.

The first fight involved 92 inmates in a large dorm, with a second fight between 40 inmates breaking out a few hours later in a separate dorm, Yates said.

Both were broken up with tear gas and pellet weapons known as sting balls, Yates said. Five inmates sustained minor injuries. No deputies were hurt.

The Feb. 4 riot that began the current siege of trouble in the jail system involved as many as 2,000 inmates. In addition to the death, dozens were injured. Since then, smaller fights along racial lines have broken out at the Pitchess Detention Center and other jail facilities.<