A perceived insult aimed at the late Michael Jackson instigated an attack on an inmate at the John Latorraca Correctional Facility by another inmate, according to the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.

Jeffrey Salery, 50, allegedly admitted to correctional officers that he attacked the 21-year-old man because “he disrespected Michael Jackson.”
The 21-year-old was taken to a Modesto hospital for treatment of a broken jaw.

Salery, already in custody on narcotics charges, was booked for battery with great bodily injury, said sheriff spokesman Deputy Tom MacKenzie.
The exact nature of the insult is unknown and the case is still under investigation.