Guards at the Coos County jail took a pair of inmates to the hospital this week after they suffered injuries at the fists of their peers.

According to Sgt. Pat Downing and Coos County Sheriff’s Office press releases, Daniel Greiner, 52, of Lakeside got punched in the head by another inmate Tuesday and wound up falling to the ground, striking his head on the concrete floor. He suffered three cuts on the head and ear, which he had treated at Bay Area Hospital, the press release said.

Guards learned of a second injured inmate Thursday morning, when David Smith, 35, of Bandon, said an inmate punched him in the left eye the night before while they were both seated at a table. He, too, was taken to Bay Area Hospital, and then Bay Eye Clinic, for treatment.

Both men are back in jail, the press release said.

Deputies investigated both cases and have recommended charges involving a 21-year-old inmate to the Coos County District Attorney’s Office on the assault of Greiner. Smith’s attacker hasn’t been identified.

The attacks both occurred in common areas, said Downing, during a time when inmates can write letters, play cards or watch TV. The two fights don’t appear to be related, Downing added.

Deputies usually try to break up fights before they get too violent, he said, but in these two cases, the assaults took place quickly. It’s not uncommon for inmates to fight one another, though it’s not something that happens every day. Some fights go unreported.

“When you get people locked up together with nothing to do but time, these things do occur,” Downing said.

There aren’t as many prison guards as there were before the county’s budget cuts, which Downing said may exacerbate violence in the jail. There are times when only one deputy is monitoring several areas of a cell block, so if a fight erupts, he must contact deputies in the booking area or elsewhere in the jail to respond.

“With more staff, it allows more eyes and there is a faster response time,” he said.