Kansas man in jail for biting officer sentenced for biting inmate
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A 25-year-old man was sentenced to the Kansas Department of Corrections on Wednesday for biting an inmate during a jail basketball game. Court records say it's the second time he's been sentenced for a biting-related assault in Leavenworth.
Alvaro Pertuz is facing 66 months, approximately five-and-a-half years, in prison for aggravated battery in connection with an assault in the summer of 2022.
Court records say on July 25, 2022, Pertuz was playing basketball with other inmates at the jail's Rec Pod when, at one point during the game, Pertuz jumped on his fellow inmate's back and bit off the top of their ear.
He was subsequently charged after having already been in jail for a similar assault case.
Court records say Pertuz previously pleaded guilty to aggravated battery after he threw a rock and bit a Leavenworth police officer during an arrest four years ago.
The incident took place on Aug. 26, 2021. Court documents say officers were called to a convenience store on reports of a man, later identified as Pertuz, stealing cigarettes.
When the officer arrived, they identified Pertuz and attempted to talk to him. But he refused and ran away, entering a nearby Home Depot parking lot.
As the officer chased him, Pertuz grabbed a large rock and threw it at the officer, causing a large cut across their forehead.
Eventually, Pertuz was placed into police custody with the help of another officer from the Lansing Police Department. Court records say that as they struggled on the ground to arrest Pertuz, he bit the Leavenworth officer.
In August 2022, he was sentenced to almost three-and-a-half years in jail for aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer.
However, a month before that sentencing hearing, he was charged, yet again, with the same type of assault for the inmate biting incident.
Pertuz will be serving additional jail time for the added aggravated battery charge.
“The law applies inside and outside correctional facilities,” Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said. “Violence will not be tolerated, no matter where it occurs. Everyone -whether staff or inmate - deserves to be safe.”