Ismael Martinez (left) and Fabian Mendivil. (Photos: Pinal County Sheriff's Office)
FLORENCE, Ariz. (KSAZ) – A violent attack at the Pinal County Adult Detention Center: Two inmates were seen on camera beating an officer while he was on a routine security check. Another officer who rushed in to help was also hurt.
The brutal attack happened this past Sunday around 1:00 p.m. The jail is southeast of San Tan Valley next to the Sheriff's Office and Pinal County courthouse.
A detention officer working there over the weekend was attacked without warning, and the Sheriff says this was planned by the inmates.
Nothing was out of the ordinary until one of the detention officers came down the stairs on a routine security check of the G-Block cell area. He walked out the door into a common area of the cell block. You can see the two inmates standing closest to the door follow right behind the officer in what appears to be a planned attack.
Seconds after the officer walked into the hallway and leaned against the wall, he's blindsided, sucker punched in the neck and head by the inmates as he desperately tries to fight them off.
The officer being attacked suffered a broken ankle and broken nose, but was able at one point to push the inmates off.
Another angle of the video shows a second officer using his radio to report the attack before he ran over to try and help. Thirty seconds after it all started, it's over. The officers subdued and restrained both inmates.
The inmates have been identified as 32-year-old Ismael Martinez, who was in medium-security custody awaiting trial on burglary charges, and 35-year-old Fabian Mendivil, a Department of Corrections inmate transferred to the PCSO jail for a July court hearing.
Both men are now facing felony charges of aggravated assault and are being kept in solitary confinement.
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