Chula Vista

A surprise search at the County Jail in Chula Vista turned up 24 jail-made knives and a hatchet in an area holding prisoners involved in a recent near-riot, a spokesman said Tuesday.

“They were getting ready to go at it again,” Deputy Russell Shimmin said, adding that the module will remain in the lockdown that has been in effect since last week’s gang-related disturbance that left five men slightly hurt.

The prisoners sharpened the makeshift knives, or “shanks,” on the concrete cell floors, producing a grinding and scratching noise that alerted officials, Shimmin said.

An 8 a.m. search Monday of the 24-cell module uncovered the 25 crudely made weapons and a kit used for administering drugs, he said. The module, designed to accommodate 24 men, held 98 at the time of the search.

Shimmin said many of the weapons, made from different materials within the cells, were found hidden in light fixtures.