By David Wilcox
The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y.
AUBURN, N.Y. — An officer at Auburn Correctional Facility was punched and stabbed by an inmate Monday, resulting in three puncture wounds and injuries to four other officers, according to the state correction officers union.
In a news release Wednesday, the New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association said the 49-year-old inmate used a sharpened piece of metal with a taped handle in the attack.
The union said the attack happened after the inmate was let out of his cell for his evening meal. After walking past an officer, the inmate turned around, punched the officer twice in the left side of the face and stabbed him in the upper left arm and twice in his upper back. The inmate then fled down the cell block and lied down on the floor as emergency response began. He was compliant while handcuffed, the union continued, but as he was escorted away he became combative and kicked at staff, striking one officer in the knee. Officers used leg restraints and eventually placed the inmate on a stretcher.
The inmate was transported to the infirmary for evaluation and then a special housing unit pending transfer to Five Points Correctional.
The five injured officers were treated at the facility. The first officer attacked was taken to Auburn Community Hospital for three puncture wounds, a swollen jaw and injured ribs.
The inmate was convicted of assault and weapon charges after slashing the face of an employee at a Yonkers store following an argument in 2013, the union said. He is serving 20 years to life.
Kenny Gold, vice president of the union’s Western Region, said the attack shows the need for the state to implement the recommendations of the committee formed after last year’s correction officer strike to reform the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act. The act prevented officers from placing the inmate in an area safer for them and inmates after a Feb. 28 infraction, he said.
“This is a clear example of the dangers staff face when dealing with inmates who pose a serious threat to safety,” Gold said.
“The officer stabbed will thankfully physically recover from his injuries, but he easily could have been killed in the attack.”
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