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Rikers Island inmate stabs CO in the hand during gang fight

An inmate stuck a silver blade at least 5 inches long into the back of the CO’s hand

By Chelsia Rose Marcius
New York Daily News

NEW YORK — A Rikers Island inmate stabbed a city correction officer through the back of her hand during a gang fight on Thursday — just two days after jail leadership was warned about rising tensions among members of the Crips, the Daily News has learned.

The melee broke out Thursday just after 11 a.m. at the George R. Vierno Center between about 15 alleged gang members, sources said.

The correction officer — whose name has not been released — leapt into the fray to break up the fight.

That’s when one inmate stuck a silver blade at least 5 inches long into the back of her hand. The weapon pierced through her hand and came out the other side, according to gruesome pictures of the wound.

The officer was sent to Mount Sinai Hospital in Queens, where she was treated for her injuries. It was unclear on Thursday which inmate stabbed the officer.

Bad blood between opposing Crip sets in the jails already resulted in several bouts of violence this summer, according to an internal email obtained by The News.

A warden and deputy warden were notified earlier this week that members of the gang would be transferred from the Otis Bantum Correctional Center at Rikers to the George R. Vierno Center due to an ongoing beef between the groups, the email said.

“Over the course of the last few months there has been an ongoing internal feud amongst the Rollin’ and 280 Crip sets against the 8 Trey Crip sets,” read the email sent Wednesday to jail Warden Sherma Dunbar and Dep. Warden Jonelle Shivraj.

The feud has resulted at four slashings between June 19 and Aug. 26 in two other jails at Rikers — the Anna M. Kross Center and the Robert N. Davoren Complex — documented by the agency’s intelligence bureau, the email said.

Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio said Thursday’s stabbing was further proof the city needs to preserve punitive segregation — commonly referred to as solitary confinement, a practice Mayor Bill de Blasio said in June he wanted to end.

“This horrific inmate stabbing of our correction officer who was attempting to break up an inmate fight involving 15 members of the Crips gang is yet another reason why ending punitive segregation entirely is completely reckless, and is only going to jeopardize the lives of my members,” Boscio said.

“Slashings and stabbings are up 16% this years,” he continued, citing a recent surge in jail violence documented in the Mayor’s Management Report. “How many more of our correction officers have to be stabbed or assaulted until this city starts putting safety and security first?”

Correction Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Peter Thorne said the agency is looking into the incident.

“Our officers work tirelessly to keep all those who live in our facilities safe and we will not tolerate any violent behavior towards anyone who works for the department,” he said. “We are investigating and will pursue rearrests as necessary.”

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