SANTA ANA, Calif. — Inmates at a California prison tore doors from their hinges and broke off toilets and sinks in a four-hour riot that injured 175 people, and many fear the overcrowding that might have helped escalate the brawl will only get worse.
A national expert warned 20 months ago that the Chino prison, which held nearly twice as many men as it was designed for, was “a serious disturbance waiting to happen” because of crowding.
The fight, which appeared to be racially motivated, comes at a critical time for California prisons. Next week, state lawmakers begin deciding how to cut $1.2 billion from the corrections budget, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to trim the state prison population by about 27,000 inmates to save money.
