Tehachapi, California - Officials at California Correctional Institution (CCI) are investigating an assault that sent one correctional officer to the hospital.

At 7:03 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, inmate Durrell Puckett, 30, summoned correctional staff to his cell. While speaking with staff, Puckett covered his cell door window so the officers could not see what he was doing. A medical emergency was announced, and as staff entered the cell, Puckett threw an unknown substance on them. He then used an inmate-manufactured weapon to stab a correctional officer in the head.

The officer was taken to an outside hospital where she was treated for abrasions and lacerations. She was released from the hospital that evening and is recovering at home.

Staff used physical force, an extraction shield, pepper spray and baton strikes to subdue Puckett. He was transported to a separate outside hospital and treated for a laceration to the back of his head. He was transferred to California State Prison-Corcoran and has been housed in the Administrative Segregation Unit pending an investigation.

The other correctional officers involved suffered no serious injuries. They were medically evaluated at the institution and remained on duty.

Puckett was received by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Feb. 7, 2008, from Los Angeles County to serve a sentence of 82 years, 10 months to life with the possibility of parole for two counts of rape, attempted rape, attempted sodomy, kidnap for robbery, attempted kidnapping, second-degree robbery and criminal threats to cause great bodily injury or death.

CCI opened in 1933 and houses approximately 3,500 minimum-, medium-, maximum- and high-security custody inmates. CCI offers academic classes and vocational programs and employs approximately 1,600 people. For more information, visit www.cdcr.ca.gov.