Two inmates at the Kane County jail have been charged in connection with a fight broken up when officers used pepper spray on the offenders.
Alexavier Fuentes, 19, and Orlando Castillo, 18, were both charged with mob action, a class 4 felony, and battery, a class A misdemeanor, according to charges filed Saturday in Kane County.
The episode started at about 7 p.m. April 13, when Fuentes and another inmate, who was his cellmate at the time, were outside their cells, in the block’s day room, when they began to argue with each other, according to an email from Kane County Sheriff spokesman Lt. Patrick Gengler.
It appears the men had a disagreement but it’s not indicated what that was about, Gengler said.
Fuentes hit the other inmate, then Castillo joined in, striking him as well, Gengler said.
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Officers ordered the inmates to stop fighting, then an officer sprayed the three inmates with pepper spray, Gengler said.
Fuentes and Castillo were handcuffed and decontaminated from the pepper spray exposure, he said. The other inmate, who had minor injuries, also had to be decontaminated from the spray, Gengler said. Typically, he said, that means rinsing their eyes out.
The report doesn’t indicate how far away the officer who used the spray had been from the inmates, but usually they have to be fairly close in order to hit what they’re aiming at, Gengler said.
“Sometimes it’s tough,” Gengler said. “When you’re trying to stop people, it may also get other people.”
The inmate not charged did fight back, and with multiple people fighting, it can be difficult to immediately identify the instigator, Gengler said.
Castillo, formerly of the 300 block of Elgin Avenue in East Dundee, has been in the jail since Feb. 16, and records show his bail there is currently set at $90,750 for charges including this month’s fight; manufacturing, distributing, advertising or possessing with the intent to manufacture or distribute a look-alike substance, a class 3 felony; retail theft, a class 3 felony; and criminal damage to property, a class A misdemeanor.
Fuentes, formerly of the 300 block of Flagg Street, Aurora, has been in the jail since Sept. 22, with bail now set at $120,000. Records show his current charges include three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, all class 4 felonies; and aggravated assault, a class A misdemeanor.
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