Multiple Corrections Officers were injured by an intoxicated inmate in Moravia last month.
According to NYSCOPBA, on May 15th, an officer noticed the 30-year old inmate at the Cayuga Correctional Facility acting erratically and appeared to be under the influence of an illegal substance. When officers took the inmate out of his cell and attempted to frisk him, he struck one CO in the face.
After being forced to the ground, he then bit another officer’s hand before breaking free and getting to his feet.
OC spray was used on him but to no effect. The inmate was sprayed a second time with the desired effect and he was able to be placed in handcuffs, evaluated by medical staff, and taken to a Special Housing Unit.
The officer who was bitten was taken to Auburn Hospital for treatment and did not return to duty. The officer who was punched, along with a responding sergeant, were checked over by facility staff and remained on active duty.
The inmate is serving 13 years to life after being convicted as a juvenile offender of beating his girlfriend’s 20-month old daughter over a course of 20 days, causing the infant’s death in 2011.
“Another vicious assault on staff by a violent inmate who is now eligible for parole in July. With the HALT Act having stripped what was left of any disciplinary measures for attacking staff, we now must rely on other measures to hold inmates accountable. Those measures are prosecuting inmates who attack staff or denying their parole based on their disciplinary history and their initial crime. The unfortunate reality is, there are only a handful of circumstances where those measures can be applied among the 1300 plus attacks on staff every year. Thankfully in this latest incident, and hopefully, the parole board can take this latest attack on staff into account. Especially, based on this inmate’s initial heinous crime, he does not deserve to be allowed back into community to destroy lives once again. – stated Kenny Gold, NYSCOPBA Western Region Vice President.
