By C1 Staff
NEW YORK — Prison staff are investigating how a newly arrived inmate at Rikers Correctional Facility was able to get a hold of a large kitchen knife and slash another inmate.
The NY Times reports that the new inmate, Sunil Poonai, was being held in an intake cell reserved to new arrivals when he took out a six-inch-long kitchen knife and slashed Martin Street, another inmate.
Poonai was arrested on Thursday after soliciting riders to swipe their fare cards for him at an East Harlem subway station and arraigned the next day. He would have been transported to Rikers.
During that transport, he should have been searched at least three times by police, correctional officers and passed through metal detectors.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision released a statement Sunday that officials were investigating the incident and that Poonai would face additional charges.
The slashing comes shortly after Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a plan to curb violence inside the facility, including preventing weapons and drugs from being smuggled into city jails.