Youth, staff member injured in fight at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall

A juvenile resident at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey is back at the facility Saturday after escaping during a brawl with detention staff members that prompted a large police response.

Officers from the Downey Police Department, Downey Fire Department, the South Gate Police Department and deputies from the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station responded to the juvenile hall just after 9 p.m. Friday in response to a report of one youth assaulting a staff member at the recently reopened facility.

A spokeswoman with the Los Angeles County Probation Department, which runs the facility, said the youth who escaped was quickly apprehended by Probation Special Enforcement Operations officers.

“Youth and staff who were impacted by the disturbance are being evaluated by medical staff; however, no serious injuries to youth or staff were reported,” she told City News Service. “All youth are accounted for.”

Officers and deputies searched nearby neighborhoods and Los Amigos Golf Course after learning one of the juveniles housed at the facility had escaped during the fight.

“I want to thank the law enforcement officers who responded and got this situation under control quickly,” LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement issued Saturday. “It is my understanding that all the youth have been accounted for. We need to understand exactly what happened last night at Los Padrinos. I expect our interim Chief Probation Officer to get to the bottom of what went wrong and make assurances to the Board of Supervisors and the City of Downey that this is not going to happen again.”

Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall reopened this month with 274 pre-disposition youths previously housed at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar and Central Juvenile Hall in Boyle Heights transferred to the 26-acre campus in Downey.

Updated July 29, 2023, 11:18 a.m.

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