BUCKEYE, Ariz. — Warning: This report contains graphic material. The full, unedited body camera footage is embedded in this report.
Newly leaked body camera footage from inside Arizona's Lewis Prison offers a rare first-person view of a bloody attack on a corrections officer that lasted more than three minutes with no backup, no partner, and no one watching from a control room.
ABC15 previously exposed surveillance video of the July 28, 2026, attack inside the Morey Unit, a housing area nicknamed "Murder Morey."
The body camera footage, which includes audio, is significantly more graphic.
The video shows the officer getting blindsided with a punch, then beaten for about 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Watch the raw body camera footage below.
During the attack, the inmate, Martin Franco, rips away the officer's radio, taser, pepper spray, and keys, according to incident reports obtained by ABC15.
"What's wrong with you!? I've never even done anything to you," the officer said during the attack.
No backup arrived and no one responded.
The officer eventually escaped from the cell block and went into an office to call in his own assault. The body camera video shows the officerreading radio codes over the phone as blood poured from his face.
Franco, who has been in and out of prison since 2001, has a long history of prison violence and prosecuted in 2025 for another assault on a prison officer, according to prison records.
Carlos Garcia, head of the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association, said the video is evidence of a crisis that has been building for years.
"This is Jurassic Park. This is still Jurassic Park," Garcia said.
"This dinosaur broke through the gate. Here we have everything that we dreaded, neatly in one video," he said.
Under state Prison Director Dr. Ryan Thornell, assault numbers inside Arizona prisons have exploded.
Inmate-on-inmate assaults rose from 1,436 to 2,330 to 3,552 to 3,605 across fiscal years 2023 through 2026, according to official department statistics. Inmate-on-staff assaults went from 426 to 563 to 724, before dropping to 528 in the most recent fiscal year.
Staff injuries have also doubled, from 38 in fiscal year 2023 to 78 in the most recent year.
So far, Thornell has not agreed to an interview request.
But the day after ABC15's first report on the attack, his deputy director sent an internal email to staff titled "Enhanced Security Protocol — Effective Immediately."
ABC15 obtained a leaked copy of the August 29 email written by John. D Barcello.
It does not address security inside the prisons but rather focuses on stopping leaks and locking down access to video footage.
"In light of recent inaccurate and misinformed social media posts, it is our responsibility to remind all staff that downloading, extracting, or sharing agency video footage or records without authorization is strictly prohibited," Barcello wrote.
This digital article was produced with the assistance of AI and converted to this platform based on the broadcast story written and reported by ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing (Dave@abc15.com). Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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