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Rikers Guards Allegedly Beat Inmate With Baton & Covered It Up
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 9, 2014
Modified Jul 9, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 9, 2014
Modified Jul 9, 2014
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Two Correction Officers and a Captain are charged with beating a Rikers Island inmate with a baton and covering up the incident.
According to the Department of Investigation, the assault occurred on October 30th, 2012, after the inmate became verbally abusive to one of the guards. Captain Moises Simancas and Officer Tyrone Wint led the handcuffed prisoner to a stairwell out of view of the general population and the other guards, where they were joined by Officer April Jackson, the complaint alleges. The three DOC employees struck the inmate on his head, torso, and limbs—injuries that were later found to be "patterned in a manner consistent with the imprint of a DOC-issued baton," a DOI release states. "Correction Officers patrolling general population areas do not regularly carry batons."
After they had beaten the inmate, investigators say that the guards submitted use-of-force reports that failed to mention the baton and weren't consistent with the prisoner's injuries. Simancas, 43; Jackson, 34; and Wint, 28, are all charged with felony assault and felony falsification of business records. Simancas has been a DOC employee since 1997, while Wint and Jackson both began working there in 2008.
The DOI's investigation was conducted with the DOC, as the two organizations continue to investigate violence, drugs, and corruption inside the jail. Last month the DOC and DOI conducted an "unprecedented, joint tactical search" of 75 different locations in Rikers that resulted in more than a dozen DOC employees being referred for prosecution.
A press agent for the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association did not immediately return a request for comment.
Tagged
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doi
Rikers Island
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Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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