ORANGE (CBS) — A brawl at the Theo Lacy branch jail involving about 40 black and Latino inmates was apparently sparked by an inmate who felt another prisoner showed him "disrespect," a sheriff's official said Monday.

A Latino inmate apparently touched a black inmate while they were out on work detail, and that's when the fight started about 12:30 p.m. last Thursday, said Orange County sheriff's spokesman John McDonald.

"It was quickly brought under control by deputies before anybody was seriously hurt," he said, but four inmates suffered minor injuries.

The deputies used "pepper balls," which are paint balls containing pepper spray, to help quell the brawl, McDonald said.

The jail was in lockdown mode through Saturday, McDonald said. It was lifted on Sunday when inmates were allowed visitors, he said.

Large-scale scuffles like Thursday's are not too common in recent years, McDonald said.

"A couple of years ago it was fairly common, but it hasn't happened that much recently," he said.

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