Riot At San Quentin

Four San Quentin State Prison inmates were seriously injured in a riot in a prison dining hall on Sunday night.

The fight broke out among 184 reception center inmates of various ethnicities in Dining Hall 3 around 6:50 p.m., prison spokesman Lt. Sam Robinson said.

The four inmates were taken to hospitals outside the prison with stab and slash wounds, he said.

Three returned to San Quentin on Sunday night and the fourth was held overnight and will return today, Robinson said. A number of other inmates suffered less serious injuries, he said.

Dozens of corrections officers responded to the riot and used pepper spray and non-lethal bullets to control the fight. Ten inmate-made weapons were confiscated, Robinson said. No prison guards were injured.

The cause of the melee, which lasted a few minutes, is unknown, Robinson said.

"We don't have a handle on it yet," he said. "We have an idea who started the fight."

Thirteen inmates have been moved to separate housing, and approximately 350 reception center inmates are on a "modified program" today, meaning they are confined to their cells and have had their activities restricted other than doctor's appointments, Robinson said.

"It doesn't affect the entire prison," Robinson said.

The reception center inmates are either waiting to be processed in or out of the prison or are parole violators, Robinson said.

— Bay City News