AUTHORITIES BREAK UP PITCHESS BRAWLERS.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

About 700 to 800 inmates rioted Wednesday at the Pitchess Detention Center for close to 15 minutes Wednesday morning, but were settled by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who used pepper spray to quell the fighting.

Authorities were still investigating the cause of the riot Wednesday afternoon. Injuries resulting from the chaos were being examined as well, though no inmates were transported to the hospital for treatment, Deputy Bob Killeen said.

``It was quite a brawl, I guess,'' Killeen said. ``As far as the injuries, there was nothing major. But the number is still undetermined.''

The inmates were in the yard of the South Facility when the riot broke out about 10:30 a.m., Killeen said.

The South Facility, one of four jails at the Pitchess complex north of Santa Clarita, has a capacity of about 1,700, which means that close to half the inmates were involved in the riot.

``Brawls start, they gain momentum and keep growing,'' Killeen said. ``A lot were probably onlookers who got involved.''

The inmates were put in lock down and were expected to remain in their cells until the mood quieted, Killeen said. Investigators were trying to determine which individuals started the fight, he said.

An emergency response team made up of deputies at all four of the jail facilities at Pitchess squelched the riot in about 15 minutes, Killeen said. The number of deputies on the team was not disclosed for safety purposes.

Deputies closed gates on the grounds to separate the crowd, used pepper spray and commanded the inmates to disperse, Killeen said.

The Pitchess complex has been plagued by violence over the past three years, typically taking on a racial note as African-American inmates faced off with Latino prisoners over such issues as use of a pay telephone or a bag of potato chips claimed by two owners.

The complex houses as many as 10,000 men under medium and maximum security.

In some of the facilities, state corrections officials have blamed the dormitory-style design of the jails, where several inmates are housed in one room rather than two or three to a cell.