Vista
A riot at the County Jail in Vista that left two inmates hospitalized “appeared to be racially motivated,” a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said Sunday.
Ten of the 53 inmates in one module of the jail were injured in the melee which broke out about 3:45 p.m. Sunday. Two of the inmates, Elbon Hairston, 27, and Gregory Jordan, 36, were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Hairston received puncture wounds in his side and back; Jordan suffered a possible broken jaw. The remainder of the injured received cuts and bruises and were treated at the jail.
Sheriff’s Lt. Scott McClintock said the fighting was caused by a racial flare up, reportedly between blacks and Latinos. No deputies were injured in the riot which lasted about half an hour.
McClintock said that the section of the jail where the fight occurred was five prisoners under its rated capacity of 58 at the time of the riot.
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