A Carbon County Correctional Facility inmate awaiting trial for 2015 charges now faces aggravated assault charges after he struck a prison guard and threatened his life.

Nesquehoning police filed charges last month against Jose J. Perez-Martinez, 28, after he got into a confrontation with a corrections officer. Perez-Martinez's last known address is 1129 Jackson St. in Easton, but he also had addresses in previous cases listed in Summit Hill and Lansford.Charges include assault by a prisoner, terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment.Perez-Martinez was in prison awaiting an April 4 trial on charges filed by Lansford police in December.He was arraigned before District Judge Casimir Kosciolek of Lansford and sent back to the prison after bail was set at $100,000.According to the affidavit of probable cause, the confrontation occurred on Jan. 27.During the incident, Perez-Martinez was out on recreational time when the corrections officer asked him to lock down, but he refused. The officer then went to restrain him and while in the process Perez-Martinez struck him in the face.Nesquehoning Police officer Richard Neikam obtained video footage of the incident from the warden's office and arranged interviews with all parties involved for Feb. 1.During the interviews, the corrections officer told Neikam that he was working on the restricted housing unit block the day of the assault and let Perez-Martinez out of his cell at 11 a.m. for his one-hour recreational time.Once he unlocked the cell, Perez-Martinez followed the guard down the stairs and into the day room while demanding he get a new pair of pants.During that time period, the corrections officer left to help Frank Shubeck, work release director, with disciplinary hearings and upon returning found Perez-Martinez running up and down the stairs in only a shirt and his underwear.The guard told Perez-Martinez to stop or he may fall and hurt himself and ordered him to lock down, but Perez-Martinez refused and began to yell and curse. He then came charging down the stairs toward the guard, telling him to "expletive make me" and then ran around the table in the unit.He then allegedly got up in the guard's face and continued to berate the guard, calling him various expletives and threatened to kill him if he saw him on the streets.The guard continued to order Perez-Martinez to lock down, and after a number of failed attempts, called for additional corrections officers while he and Shubeck, who had entered the block a few minutes earlier, attempted to corner Perez-Martinez.Perez-Martinez swung at the guard, striking him in the face. He was taken down by Shubeck, the guard and additional corrections officers who were arriving on scene, restrained and placed back in his cell.During the confrontation, the guard also injured his left knee.Shubeck and video surveillance confirmed the corrections officer's story.Neikam then attempted to interview Perez-Martinez, but he refused.A preliminary hearing before Kosciolek has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on March 23.