NEW YORK (PIX11) — A correction officer at a Rikers Island jail facility was knocked out in an unprovoked attack on Wednesday afternoon, a union official said.
He was punched in the head at the Robert N. Davoren Center around 12:50 p.m., officials said. The correction officer’s left eye was injured and medical workers were unable to remove his contact lens. He’s also missing more than 10 teeth and suffered a laceration to the back of his head.
“This incident was an abhorrent, unprovoked assault on a correction officer who was doing his job and carrying out his duty,” a Department of Correction spokesperson said. “We are pursuing re-arrest of the person in custody responsible. Assaulting a staff member in a jail is as much a crime as it is out in the community, and attacks on our staff will never be tolerated.”
More than 1,200 correction officers have been assaulted this year, Correction Officer Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio said. In the wake of the attack, he slammed proposed legislation around solitary confinement.
“If their legislation passes, one of our officers may get killed and they will have blood on their hands,” Boscio said. “We are not this city’s sacrificial lambs!”
