due to mature subject matter viewer discretion is advised. >> gang members disrupt a housing unit. >> they all feed off each other. >> when inmates flood their cells, the search team takes action. and they place one in special

restraints. >> a female inmate poses dangerous threat to staff. >> she took as swing at me, scratched my face and it was on. we went toe to toe. >> when somebody disrespects me or something, we're going to take care of business. >> already facing 16 charges, a gang member picks up five more inside the jail. >> you know, everybody thinks that this job that we have is such a gravy job and such an easy job, i challenge anybody to come in here and work this job for a week and see if we're overpaid. from the alamo to its famous river walk, san antonio is one of the most popular tourist

destinations in texas. but like any big city, there is a constant fight against crime and a landmark of that battle is just outside downtown. bexar county jail is a modern fortress that houses approximately 3,500 male and female inmates. most have only been charged with crimes and are awaiting trial for the resolution of their cases. we're very regulated on how we treat inmates. even though they're incarcerated, they still have rights. we also realize we're not here to punish or convict anyone, but just to hold them.

>> but here it's never a simple proposition, especially when they don't want to be held. >> a lot of the gang members, they've got all that time, you know, to think of different games they can play with the officers because they're trying to create a reputation for themselves that they're not to be messed with. >> i'm easy to get along with, once they don't, i'm going to take care of business. >> jose hidalgo is described as one of the famous growing and most notorious. he describes the gang more as a fellowshi fellowship. >> they're in prison only to make sure the home boys make it safe back to our families and to

make sure if one of our home boy s need something, we're going to be there. >> since the age of 14, hidalgo has spent most of his life incarcerated. he's been in jail for the past three years charged with 16 crimes. >> aiding, robbery, position, deadly conduct, dwu, assault by injury. i've got the whole list in my cell. >> hidalgo has pleaded not guilty to all charges and also those charges he picked up inside the jail. >> two assaults and two arsons. i picked up one last week they -- i got to wait to get indicted on that. his latest assault on staff occurred after a rare period of good behavior. >> most of the time that hidalgo has been in our facility he's been housed and grouped alone because we found when he's housed with inmates he rubs off. instead of dealing with one, now we're dealing with many like him. although recently for the past few months he's been out of

trouble, cooperative, behaving, and one thing he has requested is a cell mate. after a careful review we allowed him to have a cell mate. >> his cell mate is waiting to transfer to prison to serve a five-year sentence. >> i roll pretty good but hang around with wrong people. a good kid went wrong, huh? >> on the second day they were housed with each other, they were disruptive. >> they were disruptive across the day, and when they did chow, he stuck his arm out the tray slot, would. bring it back in so we could

close it. >> after meal service they decided to check his cell for contraband. >> and about the time the door opened i don't remember who was on which side but both stood up and came toward the door and stood side by side creating a barrier. >> he wanted to search the cell and we didn't try to let him in. >> we were like, hey, we want to come in and search for contraband and they're like no, you can't come in here. >> they didn't get against the wall. i said get against the wall. they said for what. he said to shake you down, i said you're not going to shake us down. >> i thought, at first there's something in the cell, and i realized, no, there's going to be a fight. as he tried to pass between the inmates, he hit him. >> i defended myself and i went off him. we were fighting. the officer, he was on the floor repeatedly hitting my cellie. >> guerrero then jumped on the officer's back. >> apparently he put him in a choke hold with his right and banged on his head with his

left. >> officer lighty came to his partner's defense. >> i came in, grabbed guerrero by his arms, tried to pull him off. i sat there for a few minutes wrestling with him a little bit. >> i'm getting at these other men. blood everywhere. >> officers inside the housing unit security control room witnessed the incident. >> the team arrested and secured hidalgo. >> they came and dropped their knee on me, boom, split my chin, which caused me to get stitches, blood's coming up. i was lying in my blood. when i get up and come out, my home boy seen it. >> as hidalgo and guerrero were escorted, another home member jeremy gonzalez witnessed the possession.

>> i seen that he was bloody, that is my home boy, me and him went through a lot. i wasn't just going to let it ride, you know what i'm saying. i kind of let my anger get the best of me and popped out with the shank. >> inmate gonzales apparently was able to defeat the locking device and open the doors of the cell door. and he ran out of the cell door holding a piece of 7-inch metal. >> unfortunately by the time he decided how to pop the cell door, they had left the unit. >> he came out in the day room and thought everybody was fighting. he got to right about here and then he realized that are -- you know, he was a day late for the

party. >> there was four laws down there, sergeant, lieutenant, corporal, and regular officer. >> and he started to get real nervous, because you know, he had no backup, he is over there with a weapon in a secured facility. with gonzales out, they're called back to assist. >> i'm not stupid, you know what i mean. i laid it down real quick, threw the shank away from me. chilled out real quick. >> he threw the knife on the ground, not at the officer. it was very gently thrown to the floor and he laid down on the floor. and we secured him. >> luckily no one was hurt. what does scare us is he had the shank and we wonder what would have happened if he was close enough to use it before an officer would have saw it. it could have easily have gone bad as it went good. >> all three inmates involved in the incident were moved to single-man cells and were given new felony charges. for gonzalez, the new charge can

carry especially serious consequences. he is awaiting trial on a murder charge. he has pled not guilty. >> i just wish i hadn't done that because it's going be like a domino effect with my other case, you know what i mean? just that little case right there is going to get me bad. they're going to see me as a threat to society coming out with shanks in jail, you know that? so that's probably going to sting me, you know what i mean? coming up, backed up toilets flood a housing unit and jeremy gonzalez faces off with a special response team. >> opposition. >> my arm's stuck. >> but first -- >> i had him on account of a pencil. i'm like, you move, and i'll poke your eye out. >> one of the most feared inmates in bexar county. in the nation, we know how you feel about your car. so when coverage really counts,

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knowing that some of their peers have less than ideal hygiene, many inmates at san antonio's bexar county jail do as much as they can to make their cells sanitary. especially raymond diaz. >> can you imagine the opposite, it is not. >> diaz, who's awaiting trial and awaiting trial for theft, burglary, and cocaine says cleanliness or the lack of it can also lead to conflict. >> that's a big part of being locked up. you know, there's people who get dropped, beat up, because they don't keep things clean. >> diaz's cell mate, marcelo cardenas who is convicted of aggravated assault and is

awaiting to be transferred to prison to begin a six-year sentence is happy to indulge him. >> he jokes i have an obsessive compulsive disorder. >> which is fine for me, right? >> well, i'm not a germaphobe, but being in prison might make some people anal. >> that's why we keep a tower or shoal to keep the dust out because when people blow by, it blows in dust. for all the people who think we live in filth, on the contrary, we probably have a cell cleaner than most people's houses. >> while the jail lets most use cleaning supplies, others like erica hayward gets only minimal. >> she's getting pine b, only a little mixed with water and two sanitary pads to clean her cell. >> let me know when you're done all right? >> it's a yellow clean solution they give us. i basically use it on my floor, the mattress, the toilet. they won't give me a broom because i had an incident last

week with one of the guards, because we had a confrontation. now they won't give me the broom. >> we used to give her the broom but she decided she was going to jab an officer through the tray slot with a broom. >> in the three months she's been in bexar county, she's attacked the staff and other inmates. now, she is housed in a high security female segregation unit where she is assigned to a single prison cell 23 hours a day. it is often a noisy disruptive place. >> some are very hostile, very aggressive. we do have to be very careful, because at any moment they could just snap at you. >> haywood has done time in jail on prior convictions. her latest arrest came after a fight with a bank security guard who ordered her to get off the telephone. >> if he had approached me differently, i probably wouldn't have did that, but he was embarrassing me. we started going off each other.

he was in my face, i was in his face, he reached in to grab me, bam, i took him down. i had a mechanical pencil, i said i'm going to poke your eyes. he did not move. she's charged with aggravated assault and bodily injury but plans to plead not guilt on assault of self-defense. she admits it's hard to control her temper. >> you start to feel the hot anger just boiling inside of you like you're going to explode. and you tell yourself you can control it. you tell yourself i can control this. i am not going to hurt nobody. but when it actually comes time to do it, it is like bam, just like a reflex, just hit somebody. it's like a reflex. they might say one wrong word to

you, bam, you hit them. >> officer laura was also a victim of haywood's temper. >> the day that erica assaulted me i was just doing my observation rounds and passing out mail like i would normally do. i told them in the hallway i could feel the anxiety coming on, i knew an attack was coming on, i knew i was going to hurt somebody. >> erica was out in her day room and at that time she was only wearing leg irons. her arms were totally free. >> here's the lady passing out mail and i was like why you trying to confront me. she was like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. >> she took a swing at me, scratched my face, and it was on. we went toe to toe. i did punch her in the face. i punched her in the body. all i wanted her to do is quit charging me. because she continued to charge me. >> then i started fighting her back. next thing i know, here comes the sert team. i was abe to move out of the way. all i saw was a sert officer with a taser and they tased her.

>> they shot me. i had a probe, like a long string with a pin look like a dart stuck into my body. they got me mostly in the shoulder area, i think, and i could feel myself going out. >> stop resisting, haywood. >> because the pain is so excruciating, all you could do is take that pain, take that pain, take that paper. my family always taught me don't let people disrespect you. we didn't like that. we're just very reactive people. this is the way i grew up. i'm nowhere near what my family has raised me to be, and they have no idea. that is it. >> [ bleep ]. >> i'm mild. very mild compared to some people. >> [ bleep ]. coming up -- >> i threw some bodily fluids

and things. bodily products. erica haywood adds a new weapon to her arsenal. and -- >> i was patting him down in the crotch area and i felt the bulge. the ongoing battle to stop the illegal tattoo trade inside the jail. philips sonicare.

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as in other correctional facilities, tattooing is not allowed at the bexar county jail in san antonio. violators could get up to 60 y days or even face criminal charges. but the demand for tattoos on the inside are so great there are always tattoo artists willing to take the risk for pay out or other forms of commissary. they make ingenious tattoo guns. staff are constantly on the lookout for them. >> i was patting him down, down

in his crotch area, felt the -- you know, the bulge, i asked him what it is and he just pulled it out, opened it up. a catch like this is pretty rare. >> was a good catch, man. >> right here is from inside of a light, a staple. this is the copper wire that came from inside of the hair clippers and two checker pieces to hold it together. these guys know what they're doing. another inmate marcelo cardenas is not a tattoo artist but has gained a reputation for crafting high quality tattoo guns. >> i rent the gun. it goes for $35. $25 or $35. >> because he's leaving the jail any day to start his six-year sentence, he's demonstrated how it's done. >> right now it's not like i really care about it. if they rub me out, i'm going to leave before they reprimand on

me. >> cardenas starts with wire scavenged from some electric hair clippers. he winds the wire around the screw to make a crude electric magnet. but he also needs a filter magnet taken from a phone or speaker. >> when you put it on here, it bounces with the cycles of electricity. >> the needle is made from a staple attached to a q-tip shaft. >> and then you use soft string to tie it up. that's pretty much how you do it. when he pounds, he pushes the needle. >> several other bexar county inmates also make their tattoo guns and the source of their knowledge could very well spring from just one man, jose hidalgo. >> early on in his incarceration he was teaching people how to create the tattoo rigs and as a result they were destroying

county property. >> when we're in the cell 23 hour as day, we get creative in breaking lights to get the wire. we burn grease to make the ink. >> even though we pulled him out, the knowledge he gave them only how to make the rig is still something we're combatting today, because inmates are constantly making rigs and constantly tearing apart light fixtures, and it is something that he started. >> hidalgo has also been on the receiving end of the jailhouse tattoo trade. >> when hidalgo first came into the facility, he didn't have anywhere as near as many tattoos as he has right now. most of the tattoos he has received, he received in our facility and he is very proud of his tattoos. >> on top of my eyebrows it says made in the hood. was made in the hood. 227. >> 78327. it's a zip.

i'm a player, so that is why i got that. i got me females -- >> his underarms display the initials of his gang and the glock which he said is the favorite weapon of gang members. >> crack cocaine, i don't trust no one. basically when you're selling drugs you can't trust nobody, even when you're doing it, they are the ones that end up snitching on you. >> even though he's got the body art he's starting to worry how the judge and jury will react to it. he's facing a litany of charges including assault and arson. >> i should have waited until after the trial but it's too late on that. when they see all the tattoos, they're going to judge me. coming up. a guy flooded his cell.

i asked him why and he sad no reason. he is famous for doing stuff like that. >> a major disruption prompts the special emergency response team to take action. i was going to the library to do my homework.

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despite staff's best efforts to stop them, some inmates at san antonio's bexar county jail still find ways to illegally tattoo each other, but if staff can't catch every tattoo, they can at least document them and add them to their intelligence base. >> tattoos are the most common nonverbal forms of communication in identifying gang affiliation. gang members love to put their gangs somewhere visibly on their bodies so rival gang members or their own gang members can identify them as are they friend or foe. and we train our class officers to look for these identifiers and if they can't get the gang member to self admit, then we refer to the gang officers and we look at the tattoos. aside from their tattoos, we'll look at their history and decide if they have a history of gang activity, strong-arming in the units, group assaults, things of that kind of nature.

in conjunction with that, we can go ahead and establish whether or not we think the guy's a gang member. >> raymond diaz is up front about his gang-related tattoos. >> the stuff i got on me, a lot of it is gang related. they call them like stamps, you know. everything was done behind bars with a staple. we don't use fancy needles and all that. the main part on my chest, it's blast, dongo blast. it's probably one of the biggest prison gangs. i chose to put it in big letters because the first thing i do is take off my shirt and it's clearly visible. if someone has a problem with me, they're going to let it be known. >> diaz is also a tattoo artist and says he has applied many himself. most are gang related but one is a fan tribute. >> which is my taylor swift. >> i did her for my own personal gratification.

i don't know what it is about her but the first time i heard her voice, i was locked up. i would listen to her music and she's got a cute country voice. it soothed me. no matter what's going on, it soothed me, fights going on, chaos, buildings burning down, but if i'm listening to taylor swift, i'm relaxed. >> but it seems no melody can quiet the outbursts. they punctuate life in the administrative seg unit, which houses the gang, the orejones. >> usually they'll call a disruption if they're upset or want to gain attention. mostly they're kicking the doors. one starts screaming. some days it's worse than others. they're young, rambunctious, they have nothing better to do, so that's the way they make their noise. you know, everybody thinks that

this job is such a gravy job and such an easy job. i challenge anybody to come in here and work this job for a week and see if we're overpaid. >> later in the day, the disturbance escalates when one of the inmates starts flooding the unit. >> the guy in 12 unit started flooding his cell. i asked him why. he said for no reason. he is famous for doing stuff like that. >> the inmate is known to staff. jeremy gonzalez. besides facing charges of murder and aggravated assault, gonzalez just picked up another felony charge after confronting the officers with a 7-inch long shan

k. since arriving he's been sanctioned for several other infractions as well. >> i've been trying to do good for six months straight. i've been trying to chill and get my visits back. you go to impressionable and aggravated. >> with within two minutes others add to the flooding. >> they're utilized uniforms, whatever they can find by flushing the toilets, causing them to overflow, just to be belligerent, and disruptive. >> gonzales' friend says he is not impressed by his actions and that such behavior is now looked down upon by the gang. >> they know we don't do that no

more. they know we don't do that. >> how are you doing? >> the special emergency response team or sert is mobilized to restrain the troublemakers. >> the sert was called in. the system was activated. >> they will put them in restraints due to destructive behavior, not to harm themselves or anybody else. >> the team begins with gonzalez who submits to their orders but not quietly. >> anyone who is shackled, they'll be shackled every one to two hours and evaluated by the medical staff. they will be evaluated every 30 minutes. that is medically to see if there's any cramping any injury toward the inmate himself. >> they hog tied me. >> before long the sert team has restrained two others also as a result of flooding. just when officers think they

have the situation under control, gonzalez manages to slip his hands out from behind him. the sert team decides it was time to deploy the restraint chair, which is designed to temporarily restrain them to impose threats and take orders. >> roll over on your mattress, on your chest. you got it? >> at the sert enters the cell, gonzalez launches a verbal assault. >> you all going to see, dog. you all going to see. mark my words [ bleep ]. mark my words [ bleep ]. >> he's threatening everybody. called them words. he's got a hit on everybody. [ bleep ].

>> you better hope i never get out of jail and see you in the world, huh? i'll start swinging on you and beat your [ bleep ]. >> you want to -- you [ bleep ]. i'm going to drop you first. >> my arm's stuck, [ bleep ]. my resistance, dog. >> only when gonzalez feels a taser gun pressed against his back does he finally give in. gonzalez will stay in the chair until he calms down, or up to a maximum of two hours. >> two hours. after that, what's going to happen next? still do the same [ bleep ]. come on, man. come on, man.

ain't going to stop nobody. a couple hours. not for life. i'm still going to do it again and keep doing it. just passing time. coming up -- >> this is one of the sparks that we use to add to the tattoo guns. >> the ingenious techniques inmates use to conceal tattoo paraphernalia. and -- she'll take her feces and rolls it up into a ball and throws underneath the other cell. >> her behavior and how it impacts her neighbors. >> went right under my bed. tbal. they can see the light of a single candle. your eyes are amazing.

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p managing a sprawling urban correctional facility like san antonio's bexar county jail is a task full of challenges. from inmates acting up to dealing with gangs and an illicit tattoo trade, officers are constantly put to the test. >> these inmates in here do have time to study. they know almost everything about your job. they know exactly when you're coming. they know exactly what you're looking for. inmates that are actually doing the tattoo, they'll stop what they're doing, they'll put away everything. most of the time within 20 seconds. they have time to actually hide their tattoo rigs, their ink, they will hide it on top of the light fixture, under the stairs as well, in a toilet.

they will find any little small opening that they know you won't find and they will put all of their contraband in there. >> hiding anything in jail where every area is subject to inspection at any time takes determination and creativity. just ask marcelo cardenas. >> this is one of the spots that we use for -- to hide the guns, the tattoo guns. i'm just right now making one. >> cardenas who is sharing his secrets because he is soon leaving for state prison and says he is not worried about punishment has a clever technique for hiding his homemade tattoo guns. the process begins with another piece of contraband, a box hinge. in this case since the hole is still small, cardenas demonstrates how he uses a bar of soap to conceal one of the magnets used in the gun rather than the gun itself.

>> the thing we do is put this inside the hiding spot. we break the soap so you can fit it. you have to take more time, but right now i'm just showing you. >> cardenas then peels small strips of paint off the wall and he moistens it with water. >> it's painted, based with water. so the water makes it thick. you put some on top of the soap like this, you know. you do that, little by little you have the wall covered up.

>> while cardenas uses stealth to get around rules, erica haywood's disobedience is anything but covert. when managing haywood went from difficult to dangerous, jail officials mandated new precautions to prevent further violence. >> it came down that after that assault that happened with me and erica, they now need to have the sert team take her to recreation and bring her right back just in case she tries to assault somebody else. >> now she is only allowed to leave her cell under heavy security. haywood's assault on officer lara came after the claim that she was having an affair with a male officer. the charges are strongly denied. >> erica does not have a romantic relationship with a fellow officer. all she does is write letters to

him and causes stress. >> officer lara believes jealousy drove haywood to attack. >> she started making these allegations, you want to take my man, you want to take my man. no, erica, i told her. >> erica's erratic behavior ordered them to take tests. the results were she's mentally competent. >> she tries to be the victim all the time, she says oh, they did this to me. i believe erica is not one of those, she's just one of those mean people. she's not mental. she's just mean. >> haywood has continued her campaign against staff, using the only weapons she has left. >> well, when i protest because they were not picking my trash up, they weren't picking my trays up, i threw some bodily fluids and things, bodily products. >> she starting gassing officer.

basically, you take your urine and feces, and mix it up and let it sit in a little cup for a couple of days. and when the officers come to get her tray out she throws it out. as far as these inmates go, we don't know what kind of disease they have, and all that bodily fluid carries. >> haywood's latest actions with bodily substances have gotten the attention of other inmates. she will take her feces, roll it up in a ball and throw it

underneath. >> she would aim it at doors, she aims it at their doors, my ? >> yeah, better put your [ bleep ] up. so i get this right here. and i put it like this on the bottom. and i barricade it in there. you know what i mean? so i got to barricade this on the bottom of my door so she can't throw [ bleep ] in here. >> one time i got real -- because she threw a meatball i thought it was a piece of [ bleep ]. shut up, girl. my friend said don't worry about it, it wasn't a piece of [ bleep ]. it was a meatball. but it looked like a little balled up turd. went right under my bed. i was [ bleep ] mad. >> her reasons for doing what she does cover a wide range of alleged mistreatments in the jail. >> the lady brought me a tray.

>> she is never responsible for what she does. every time we try to put blame. this is what you did. this is the consequences. oh, no. you triggered it. it's your fault i am behaving this way. >> she is just something else. for real. >> coming up -- >> this is the life i chose, i guess. this is not the life i am going to choose forever. >> the true costs of jose hidalgo's life choices. >> i am still here for him. he is my son. people grow up and people change. and i hope my son will change. i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free -- it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles

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>> narrator: jose hidalgo is getting ready for a big day.

for the nearly three years he's been in jail, hidalgo has only seen himself get into deeper trouble. but he's maintained strong support from his family. and, today, his mother and grandmother have arrived to visit him. >> i visit him as much as i could. maybe every week, every two weeks. and it takes maybe four to five hours to even see him. >> he is one of the inmates that has to be walked with. >> narrator: hidalgo also gets financial support from his family. they deposit money which he can use to purchase snacks or toiletries from the jail commissary. >> if it wasn't for them, i'd be struggling, too. >> thank you. >> my mom, she only speaks spanish. so when we come here to visit him, we talk to him in both of our languages.

but she is alms there for him. she loves him very much. >> hidalgo? >> crystal's debbie? we went yesterday. >> narrator: hidalgo's mother worries about the extensive time her son might have to serve. he's recently added five new felony charges. >> he's always getting in trouble because he gets mad and frustrated just being locked up. it worries me because it seems like charges are never going to stop. >> hidalgo now has a trial dalt for his most serious charge.

aggravated robbery. he recently turned down a plea bargain for 25 years. but losing in court could result in a much longer sentence. >> i'm just praying that everything is going to be okay. >> no, if i beat that one charge, i've still got to wait for the other charges. >> now that he's had all of these cases, sometimes i feel like he's never going to come out. i'm still here for him because he is my son. but i hope one of these days, he's going to change his life. people grow up and change. and i hope my son is going to change. >> this is the last i told, i guess. this is not the life i would choose for anyone. right now, i'm going to see what happens to me. and that's pretty much it. >> narrator: hidalgo's friend is

in the intensive unit after he burst out of his cell with a 7-inch shank and then flooded his housing unit. his murder trial has been postponed. and in the meantime he has limited his contact with family because it's just too hard to deal with. he breaks my head. what do you need? i ain't going to be there for a while, you know what i mean? >> despite his efforts to avoid thinking about family, a reminder has just arrived by way of today's mail. >> i got this letter from my little sister: she's 12 years old: she's real smart. she gets straight as. >> hi, brother.

how have you been? i've been good. just working hard in school. i want to see you, but every time you go on restriction. i love you, brother, for being good. write back. sincerely, your sister. >> oh, man. >> she shouldn't have to be worrying about me. all of my family are stressed out about the time i'm looking at and what's going to happen. i hate to say it, but i try to forget about all of them, you know what i mean? you can't do nothing else but try to make the best of it.

>> announcer: due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> narrator: a two-on-one assault leaves an inmate bloodied and injured. but getting to the bottom of this fight requires some digging. >> you both lay in the corner. you're going to stand there and lie to me some more? a popular restaurant owner accused of capital murder fights for his freedom.