An inmate at the Merced County Jail was stabbed multiple times by as many as four suspects during an altercation inside a cell Wednesday night.

The inmate, a 30-year-old Native American, had numerous stab wounds to his legs, said Merced County Sheriff spokesman Deputy Tom MacKenzie.

Believing that one of the punctures narrowly hit an artery, the sheriff’s department had the man taken by air ambulance to a Modesto hospital.

At the hospital it was found that all the stab wounds were superficial and the victim was returned to the jail within a few hours, MacKenzie said.

The reason behind the stabbing was because the victim refused to “roll out” or leave the cell when the other inmates ordered him to do so, according to Detective Dwayne Pavelski.

The other four inmates sharing the cell refused to say anything when questioned and the victim is being extremely un-cooperative with investigators and is not talking about the incident, MacKenzie said.

It is unknown who or how many were involved and a search of the cell did not reveal any weapons.

The victim was in jail on a parole violation for narcotic and spousal abuse charges.

The investigation is still ongoing.

To contact Sabra Stafford, e-mail sstafford@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2002.