Brawl said to be worst ever at Lancaster prison 
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press August 14, 2002. 

By JESSICA LOGAN 
Valley Press Staff Writer 

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LANCASTER - In the aftermath of the worst officer assault in memory at California State Prison Los Angeles County, inmates will face stiffer rules and searches. 
"This is the worst case that I, or anyone else, can remember in terms of this prison," Lt. Ron Nipper, prison spokesman said. 

Corrections Sgt. Michael Ayala was knocked out. Another guard, Officer Thomas Vazquez, was stabbed in the head several times during the breakfast-hour fight Monday that was apparently triggered by new, tougher rules at the prison. 

Additionally, Officer Tom Case had his jaw dislocated and his nasal cavity injured, along with other bumps and bruises. 

The prison is on property northeast of the intersection of Avenue J and 60th Street West. 

Barbara Little, a member of the citizens' prison advisory committee, was distressed by news of the attacks. 

"I am outraged and horrified when our guards are injured," Little said. 

At the next monthly meeting, Little said she and other committee members will discuss the attacks. 

"I'm going to be asking some very pointed questions," Little said. 

The topics will include what triggered the attacks and what can be done to prevent them in the future. 

Since the brawl, the entire prison has been on lock-down. Over the next couple of weeks, Warden Michael Yarborough said each prison cell will be searched, particularly for weapons like the one used to stab Vazquez. 

Prisoners had pried off a piece of metal from a kitchen cart and crafted it into a knife that was used to stab Vazquez in the head. 

Yarborough said he planned to tighten security on all tools and hunks of metal with increased monitoring of inventories, including inspection of larger objects. 

Nipper said the prison is instituting these rules to protect the guards. 

"We protect our own; we're a family," he said. 

Yarborough said the attack may have been in retaliation for increased security measures he implemented after a large fight last month. 

"The rules reduce the inmates' ability to pursue gang activities," Yarborough said. 

A group of 50 men had gathered in the yard and began to fight July 19. The guards were able to subdue the fight without incident, but the prison went on lock-down. 

Yarborough instituted a new, stricter regimen of rules that would transition prisoners from lock-down mode to normal mode in an effort to protect guards. 

This means inmates must walk in single-file lines when they go to the cafeteria or the exercise yard, a limited number of inmates can be in the exercise yard and they cannot congregate. 

Both Monday's and last month's incidents occurred in the same cell block. 

The prison has been open since 1993 and has seen about 100 cases of assault on officers since the beginning of the year, with 15 guards sustaining injuries. But Nipper said that the injuries could be as minor as a scratch. 

The prison has about 4,000 inmates in about 2,000 cells. Nipper said that the prison was designed to hold about 2,000 inmates, one for each cell, but the prison is within its legal limits to put two inmates in each cell. 

The prison holds some of the most violent criminals in the state, with most of the inmates serving time for murder convictions and other violent crimes. 

The prison also has a small segment of minimum-security prisoners. 

A representative from the district attorney's office in Lancaster said they may have the report relating to the incident today and will decide whether or not to file charges after they review the report. 

Prisoners locked in cells 

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press 
August 13, 2002. 

By JESSICA LOGAN 
Valley Press Staff Writer 

LANCASTER - A prisoner provoked a fight with a corrections officer Monday, triggering a brawl that injured three guards and resulted in all inmates being locked in their cells.Corrections officer Sgt. Michael Ayala was knocked out. 

Another guard, Officer Thomas Vazquez, was stabbed in the head several times during the breakfast-hour fight that was apparently triggered by new, tougher rules at California State Prison Los Angeles County.Additionally, Officer Tom Case had his jaw dislocated and his nasal cavity injured along with other bumps and bruises.The disturbance, described as potentially gang-related, erupted during the breakfast hour when a prisoner assaulted Case, Lt. Ron Nipper said. Case was walking the prisoners in line to the cafeteria for breakfast at 8:10 a.m. when Nicholas Nabors, 25, a convicted murderer, stepped out of the mess line. 

Case asked Nabors to step back into the food line.Nabors complied, but as he walked past Case he 
shoved the officer with his shoulder, starting the fight. Vazquez attempted to help Case, but was 
attacked by David Martinez, 31, Nabors' cellmate.Martinez allegedly stabbed Vazquez in the 
face and head with a makeshift knife he crafted from dining utensils.The brawl prompted corrections 
officers to regain control of the area with pepper spray, batons and force, Nipper said. 

The staff had started to secure the prisoners when two more men beat up and knocked out Ayala in a separate incident.Although the fight involved D Block prisoners, guards returned all inmates to their 
cells.The names of the two men who jumped Ayala were not immediately released, because Ayala was beaten unconscious and could not identify the pair.Later, they were unofficially identified as cellmates sharing a cell near the other suspected assailants.The injured officers were taken to Antelope Valley Hospital, where Vazquez had his head injuries stapled. All three officers were released from the hospital later Monday.Nipper said the prison is planning to hand over the case to the district attorney's office for prosecution. It will be up to the district attorney's office to decide what charges are appropriate.