I haven't received a phone call from my husband in about a week. I received a letter from him today stating they've been in lockdown since last Thursday (not yesterday's Thursday). Does anyone know if they're still in lockdown? I know that they've had fog and heavy rain most of the week.

Well, Don't Panic....thursday Night A Fight Broke Out With About 400 Inmates Involved. It's Being Investigated As Of Friday Night. I'm Sure They Are On Lockdown But Call The Number For Visiting. I Wish I Could Tell You More. Hang In There. But...if Your Boyfriend Was Already Locked Down It May Have Not Been His Dorm Or Unit.

480 inmates brawl at Tehachapi prison; facility stays on lockdown



The Associated Press

(Updated Friday, February 25, 2005, 4:00 PM)


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TEHACHAPI, Calif. (AP) - The state prison in Tehachapi remained on lockdown Friday after violent race riot broke out among hundreds of inmates, leaving three of them injured.


In all, 480 inmates went after each other in the common yard at 6:10 p.m. Thursday, said Mike Coghlan, a spokesman for the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, medium security facility.

The melee between black and Hispanic inmates lasted 40 minutes before guards were able to bring it under control using tear gas, pepper spray and non-lethal baton rounds from firearms, Coghlan said.

"This is a fairly large one," Coghlan said of the size of the brawl.

Three inmates were transported to outside medical facilities for treatment of head and spinal injuries. Three prison staffers also sustained minor injuries, including a staff physician who stuck himself with a needle while treating an injured inmate. An investigation continued Friday into what circumstances sparked the incident.

The brawl came just a day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state prisons cannot segregate inmates by race, even temporarily, except under the most extraordinary circumstances.

A spokesman for the California Department of Corrections saw no parallel between Thursday's disturbance and the issues addressed by the nation's high court.

"The Supreme Court case is centered around the reception center and this happened in the Unit 2 facility in the general population," said Todd Slosek, a CDC spokesman. "It's two different areas within the institution."

Two hundred of the inmates were transferred to other facilities in the state to help quiet things down, prison officials confirmed.

The Tehachapi prison is located about 40 miles east of Bakersfield.

My husband just recently transfered from OC to Techachpi. I got a letter from him dated the 17th saying he was still in reception, and am hoping he was still there thursday when the riot occured.

Has anyone out there heard anything new on what's going on up there? Or can anyone direct me to where I might be able to get some information.

Thank you so much...

my boyfriend wrote me on the 19th and everything was ok he is also in tehachapi but i guess the riot was probably after i hope he doesnt get transfered because of this because i heard sometimes that happens

Riot happened on the 25th of february. Last i heard they are going to be on a lockdown for awhile.

I spoke with my Fiance's counselor yesterday and they are and will be on lock down. Committe reviews should begin this Friday and everyone invloved will have one. Until then level 2 will remain on lock down with no program or phone calls. The inmates that were moved to different levels (mine is on 4) will have non contact 1 hour visits by appointment only.

It is going to be a process getting it all sorted out. Expect for this to end sometime around the end of March.

It sucks but we must remember it is part of "the life" we live.
Just pray for their saftey and a rapid resolution to the lockdown situation.

My fiance' which not too long ago we started patching things up, was one of the 200 that were sent to different prisons. He is now in Pleasant Valley, much further away so it doesn't look like I will be going that much ,like when he was in Tehachapi. A gal that is on the comitte was going to the Warden Today to see if visits were going to start up again. But somehow I doubt it very much........

How can you tell what Level an inmate is on? Is it the Unit? My relative is in Unit 2. Is that the same as Level 2? I'm writing him a note right now to add to the card I wrote earlier this evening. Hope he gets it. I'm just telling him what I have learned on PTO about the lockdown. Do we know where the problem occurred? So 200 inmates were transferred to other facilities that fast? Thanks for any information you may have and I'll look through the threads for more information. Thanks! :thumbsup:

I got a letter today, March 4th, that was written and mailed Wednesday, March 2nd. (!) My nephew said the riot was really bad. "Hundreds of people fighting, tear gas; riot gear." He said Tehachapi will probably be locked down for some time. Mail is okay but I guess packages are held. When I wrote him last night I told him a little bit of what I learned here on PTO about inmates being transferred and about the Committe Reviews. I didn't write in there about the riots happening in other California prisons. I don't know if that kind of information is acceptable in correspondence.

(Cinnabun, I PM'd you, btw.)

hello i have question to ask my man is in tehachapi too and to i called to see if i had to have an appointment because he just left delano and they asked:angry: me my name and then they said yes your on the list and i got pissed off because it sounds like others are on the list to visit? Has anyone had an experience like that? Just wanting to know!!

Kate - The levels are the same as units. They are called levels on the prison grounds. They are called units when addressing a letter.

Yeah I couldn't believe how fast they moved 200 inmates to other prisons either. It blew my mind, with gas prices and the long travel to Pleasant Valley, it's a big hardship. He is further away from his loved ones.
I want answers, Im going to write a letter to the Warden , I know they don't care about keeping familys apart.
My fiance' was in dorm 6 level 2, I know I had gotten word about package being held back. What worries me I have no clue if he got his before this riot, and if not will they send it to Pleasant Valley. What if they keep it?
No matter what faith you have, we must prayer for all !!!!!!

They (staff) are not allowed to keep inmates' packages. They can get fired for that. Yet, they are allowed to throw the packages out.

MissMySoulmate, thanks for clearing that up. I appreciate it. :thumbsup: JDMENDOZA, that's awful about your fiance being moved, and so much further away too. I hope his package gets to him up there, if he hadn't gotten before the 25th. I'm not sure how it works of course, but did you send it using that Access Securepak service? Maybe because that is a (contracted?) business the packages are tracked better or more likely to get redirected if an inmate is moved? That's probably wishful thinking on my part, and as MissMySoulmate said, staff can pretty much do whatever they want - except keep the packages themselves. I'll hope for the best that he already had it or does get it.

Booandmax4ever, I don't know that much about the lists but I know how easy it is to get the wrong impression and misinformation in all this. Maybe "the list" referred to The List, the generic "List" the staff member was checking, and not just a list for your man? Hopefully you can talk with him soon by phone or mail and get it cleared up. I hear how it sounded on the phone so of course you can't help but wonder. But I'm thinking you'll get peace of mind when it gets cleared up. It's so easy and common for the wires to get crossed.

Good thoughts for everyone's loved ones in Tehachapi and those who were moved out.

And yeah, what 03 B&C said, "Just pray for their saftey and a rapid resolution to the lockdown situation."

OOOOh I'm a bit on the happy side, come to find out PVSP isn't that far away after all. When I first got the directions it stated it was 7 hours away from where I lived. But last night I did a search for motel 6 and the Prison once more and its about an hour less than when I was going to Tehachapi. 3hour drive and less miles too, so I give this a Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipppppppppppiiiiiiiiieeeeee eeeeee. Now if I can only get word from my hunnie. Does anyone know when a inmate goes to another prison, how long is it before they can make phone calls?

thats really good news jd mendoza hope everything works for you does anyone have any idea when they are going to get off lockdown im little worried i wrote my boyfriend like a week and a half ago and i havent heard from him since i'm wondering if he ever got it:confused: