Inmate slashes PCSO detention officer

An inmate of the Pinal County jail is accused of trying to slash the throat of a detention officer Monday.

Christopher Durazo, 26, of Las Vegas, Nevada, is charged with aggravated assault on an officer. He was originally booked into the jail Sept. 18 on an outstanding warrant for assaulting an Arizona Department of Corrections officer.

Monday at around 10:30 p.m., the Pinal County detention officer was collecting shaving razors in the dayroom of the jail. According to PCSO spokesman Jim Knupp, Durazo handed the officer the plastic handle of the razor with his left hand and then used his right hand to slash the officer across the neck with the razor.

It resulted in an eight-inch cut on the left side of the officer’s neck. The officer called for backup. Durazo was taken to the ground and restrained.

“Despite being cut across the neck, our detention officer stayed calm and took control of the situation,” Sheriff Paul Babeu stated.

The wounded officer was transported to a local hospital.

Durazo had previously been sentenced in Graham County and Pima County for aggravated assault. While serving time in state prison between August 2008 and March 2013, he was charged with eight disciplinary infractions, the last being aggravated assault on a member of the prison staff, according to DOC records. He was last released Nov. 11, 2013.

He was arrested Sept. 8 by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department on the warrant out the Arizona DOC. Ten days later, he was booked in the PCSO jail on a $20,000 bond. His initial appearance on Monday’s charge is Wednesday.

“Christopher Durazo will not see the outside of our jail now until he is transferred to the Arizona Department of Corrections where he will undoubtedly spend many years in prison,” Babeu stated.