Inmate charged in assault at Oak Park Heights prison that injured 3 correctional officers

A 28-year-old inmate at the Oak Park Heights prison has been charged in connection with an assault of three correctional officers that happened in March.

Curtez Deshawn Graham is charged with one count of aiding and abetting third-degree assault, one count of third-degree assault, and one count of aiding and abetting fourth-degree assault, according to court records.

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According to a criminal complaint, Graham and another inmate named in court documents were in Complex 3 of the prison on March 7 at around 5:30 p.m. when the other inmate spit on a correctional sergeant after they told the inmate to go back to his assigned area.

The inmate then punched the correctional sergeant in the head, causing them to fall backward into an ice machine. Graham punched the correctional sergeant again, which sent them to the ground, the complaint states.

Officials say Graham punched another correctional officer who responded to help, knocking them unconscious. Graham and the inmate with him then punched a third correctional officer who responded, causing them to fall to the ground.

The complaint adds that additional correctional officers eventually used a chemical irritant to restrain Graham and the other inmate.

The correctional sergeant suffered several bone fractures on their nose in addition to concussion symptoms consistent with a traumatic brain injury, according to the complaint. The second officer who responded received multiple bone fractures to their nose while the third officer displayed facial redness from being punched.

Graham was previously sentenced to one year and one day in prison for fourth-degree assault of a correctional employee in 2016. Court documents say Graham threw a milk carton filled with urine at a correctional officer because he didn’t like the tray that his food was brought on.

At the time of the March assault, Graham was serving time for a burglary, kidnapping, and sexual assault of a 65-year-old woman and her husband in 2013. He was sentenced to 25½ years in prison for that crime.