2 Inmates Injured as Deputies Quell County Jail Disturbance

SANTA ANA — Deputies using pepper spray quelled a disturbance at the Orange County Jail that left two inmates injured and several windows broken, authorities said Wednesday.

The disturbance began after eight to 10 prisoners walked out of their cells Tuesday morning in their underwear and refused to put on their uniforms, Lt. Ron Wilkerson said. He said the inmates involved were serving time for crimes that included robbery, making terrorist threats and kidnaping.

“They wanted to show off their tattoos, stuff like that,” he said. “They were ordered to go back into their cells because they violated jail rules. And they refused to go back.”

The inmates then turned on the water in their sinks and flooded the area, deputies said. They also broke three windows.

About 20 deputies responded with pepper spray throughout the corridors, prompting all but two of the approximately 10 inmates to return to their cells. The confrontation lasted about two hours, Wilkerson said.

One of the two men, David Aldridge, suffered a cut on his nose and a broken wrist in a fight with deputies and was treated by jail staffers, Wilkerson said. Another prisoner suffered a seizure and was treated at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.

The Sheriff’s Department will recommend that the district attorney’s office file criminal complaints against the inmates of assaulting jail staffers, rioting and destruction of county property, Wilkerson said.

The inmates were among 25 men in a prison module who met daily in front of their cells to go to a day room, where they can watch television, read or use the telephones, Wilkerson said. Since Tuesday, none of the 25 men have been allowed back to the day room.