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| Seven inmates hurt as gang members brawl at Essex County Jail |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/10/2004 |
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A weekend brawl between rival gang members housed in the same cell block at the Essex County (N.J.) Jail left seven inmates injured, including one who was hospitalized with a punctured lung. About 15 prisoners, armed with homemade weapons fashioned from metal jail fixtures, began fighting around 9 a.m. Sunday, said Scott Faunce, the county's corrections director. Jail officers quickly locked down the cell block and the brawl was broken up in about six minutes, he said. Five corrections officers were injured while making their way to the fight, Faunce said, but none were hurt during the brawl. Details on their injuries were not available. The inmates involved in the brawl have ties to the Crips and Bloods street gangs, authorities said. Six were treated at nearby hospitals for cuts and bruises, while another who was stabbed multiple times remained in University Hospital in Newark on Monday. His condition was not available. Gang members had been segregated when they were housed at two now-closed county facilities because of constant fighting. However, they were transferred into the same cell block when the new, $410 million jail in Newark opened last month. Faunce defended that decision, saying it was part of a plan to isolate hard-core gang members and help rehabilitate them, but a police union said it was time for the state Department of Corrections to take over the jail's daily operations. "Even the inmates have warned officers there was going to be a problem," said Joseph Amato, president of Police Benevolent Association Local 382, which represents corrections officers who work at the jail. "To have two rival gangs living in the same housing unit does not make sense." |
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