By James Halpin
The Citizens’ Voice
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Correctional Officer Francis Petroski was sitting at his desk at State Correctional Institution Dallas when he heard a man’s voice whisper in his ear.
He couldn’t make out the words, through the thick Hispanic accent, he testified Monday.
“Almost immediately, it felt like someone slapped me,” Petroski said.
Only later, after he finished chasing down convicted murderer Joel Perez, did Petroski realize an inmate had viciously slashed his face — leaving a cut from the corner of his lip and extending through his right ear.
Perez, 42, of Lancaster County, is on trial on aggravated assault charges for allegedly slashing Petroski’s face at the prison in April 2014.
At the time, he was serving life in prison on a first-degree murder conviction for killing 18-year-old Kalif Mack-Coates with a stray bullet he fired during a dispute in Lancaster that had nothing to do with the victim.
During the trial’s opening Monday afternoon, Assistant District Attorney Michelle Hardik told jurors they will see the weapon correctional officers witnessed Perez holding as he fled the scene of the attack as well as video of him running away.
Perez, who is representing himself, deferred making an opening statement until later in the trial.
Petroski, who still has a large scar along his right jawbone, testified that there was much activity the night of the attack, with some inmates getting medication and others using the commissary. After hearing the voice and feeling what seemed like a slap, Petroski said he turned around from his seat at the desk and saw Perez running away.
“I have known inmate Perez almost my whole career,” said Petroski, who has been a correctional officer since 1999.
Petroski jumped up and began chasing after Perez, calling out for other officers near a dispensary window to stop him, he said. According to Petroski, another officer grabbed Perez, and he joined in to restrain him.
That’s when he noticed the blood.
“I did not know I was bleeding until that time,” Petroski said.
An ambulance took the officer to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township, where he underwent emergency surgery. Doctors told him they stopped counting the stitches, which likely exceeded 200.
“I was pretty much cut from my lip all the way up, and my right ear was pretty much cut in half,” Petroski said.
Since the attack, Petroski has needed to see a psychologist for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and underwent a second surgery, although the scar remains.
“I will always have a scar on my face,” Petroski said
The trial is expected to run through mid-week.