Convict turned away from full jail is arrested in Colorado City on new assault charges

Composite image with background 2020 file photo of Colorado City Marshal's Office patrol vehicle; overlay booking photo of Zeshawn Qamar Durrani, 37, of St. George, taken in Washington County on Sept. Sept. 26, 2021 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff's Office, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — After being turned away from a full correctional facility, a Southern Utah man with multiple convictions for violent crimes against women and children finally has landed in jail — but only after allegedly perpetrating yet another assault.

Photo by TSnowImages/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

Zeshawn Qamar Durrani, 37, was arrested Thursday in Colorado City after a homeowner contacted authorities reporting they were assaulted by Durrani, who also reportedly damaged some of the resident’s property, Chief Robb Radley told St. George News.

Investigating officers learned that Durrani was staying at the residence in Arizona temporarily when the incident took place on Thursday morning, and what had started as a verbal altercation, he said, turned into an assault upon the homeowner when the suspect became angry. Radley also said the suspect reportedly damaged some of the homeowner’s property as well.

On Thursday afternoon, the suspect was arrested by the Colorado City Marshals Office, transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility and booked into jail on several charges. He was also placed on a hold by Adult Probation and Parole for an open case that Durrani was recently sentenced on for an assault in Diamond Valley reported last year. 

Following the arrest in Colorado City on Thursday, three charges were filed in Mohave Superior Court in Arizona, including one count of intentionally placing a person in fear of imminent physical injury, which is coded under the assault statute in Arizona. He was also charged with one count of threatening/intimidating to cause serious injury/damage to person or property, which is a felony, as well as a criminal deface/damage property charge.

The defendant remains in custody on the charges filed in Mohave County and is also on a probation hold for the case in Washington County.

Durrani previously was ordered to serve 165 days in jail on that case, a sentence scheduled to begin on April 15, nearly two weeks before the alleged assault in Arizona.

But when Durrani reported to the jail to begin serving his sentence, he was turned away by jail staff who said the facility was full, according to information relayed to Prosecutor Rebekah-Ann Gebler, who also said that Durrani had made a total of three attempts to report to the jail over the weekend, and each time he was turned away.

During a review hearing held Wednesday, the surrender date was rescheduled to May 6, when Durrani was ordered to report to the jail to begin serving out his sentence, and in the interim, the defendant was staying at the home in Colorado City.

Radley said the homeowner was trying to help the suspect by allowing him to stay at their home until his return to Utah in May in an effort to provide Durrani with a “fresh start.” But unfortunately, the chief said, the situation turned out badly and created a dangerous situation for the homeowner.

Booking photo of Zeshawn Qamar Durrani, 37, of St. George, who was convicted of aggravated assault in the beating of a Diamond Valley woman | Booking photo taken on Sept. 26, 2021 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

When Radley learned of the open case in Utah, he reached out to authorities in Washington County to advise of the arrest.

The case Radley referred to was filed last year and involved the brutal assault of a Diamond Valley woman who was beaten while in her home. The Sept. 21, 2021, attack transpired in front of her child. Durrani was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, unlawful detention and unlawful detention of a minor, as well as the threat of violence.

Two weeks ago, the defendant appeared for sentencing on the aggravated assault charge, which was reduced to a third-degree felony. The defendant pleaded guilty and the remaining charges were dismissed under the terms of the plea agreement. He was sentenced to serve 165 days in jail and the prison sentence of 0-5 years was suspended in the case.

While District Judge Jeffery Wilcox told the defendant he deserved to go to prison for the attack in Diamond Valley, the judge ordered that Durrani serve his time in county jail, he said, to ensure the defendant would serve a period of incarceration.

The reason, Wilcox said, was based on past cases that resulted in prison sentences that were later reduced and inmates were released early, and more often than not, he said, the inmate is “back out on the streets much sooner – even a year or less.” Wilcox also said that as a result, he has lost faith in the Board of Pardons and Parole, the agency responsible for the early release of inmates.

The judge then ordered Durrani to report to the jail on April 16 to begin serving out his sentence and was not advised of the failed attempts at the jail until the following Monday, when he was notified by the prosecutor’s office.

The Washington County Attorney’s Office called to get an earlier hearing date to reschedule the time for Durrani to report to the jail, but due to the full court calendar, the soonest the hearing could take place was on  April 26, some 10 days after the original surrender date, Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke told St. George News in a previous interview.

Clarke also said previously that there had been a backlog of inmates serving commitments at the jail, as well as warrant arrests that were delayed as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions that were put in place in 2020, and the backlog has left the jail at capacity. He also said he has been working with the jail to avoid any further problems in the future, he added.

2020 file photo for illustrative purposes only of District Judge Jeffrey C. Wilcox in 5th District Court, St. George, Utah, Aug. 25, 2020 | Photo by Ron Chaffin, St. George News

This case is one of several outlined in the defendant’s extensive criminal history that dates back more than a decade, including a case filed in December 2011 in Washington State that sent Durrani to prison involving an incident that left a 3-day-old infant with multiple skull fractures.

The incident that was brought to the attention of St. George News in one of a series of emails received around the time of Durrani’s arrest last year outlining the defendant’s criminal history that spanned across Oregon and Washington State.

St. George News reached out to the detective assigned to the case in Washington State, Detective Curtis Oja, with the Yakima Police Department’s Special Assault Unit, who said during the interview last year that he was the lead detective on the case and even after nearly a decade, he remembered it well.

He said the attack left the newborn with such severe injuries that the baby’s prognosis was “grave,” according to treating physicians at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital’s pediatric trauma unit, he said.

Oja also described Durrani as a “loose cannon,” and a “chronic, deviant abuser,” supported by the level of violence that was perpetrated upon not only a young, petite, new mother, he said, but also upon the infant who was caught in the crossfire and sustained significant injuries in the process.

The detective closed by saying that “ultimately if he’s not locked up, he’s going to end up killing a woman.”

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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