A sergeant and five officers at Five Points Correctional Facility were treated at a local hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation after an inmate at the Romulus prison intentionally set fire to his cell.
On Tuesday, November 12, an officer assigned to the RRU observed the inmate begin to light a fire inside of his cell. The officer called for assistance and ordered the inmate to extinguish the fire, which he refused. As the fire continued to grow, the officer used a fire extinguisher on the fire but was unable to completely put it out. The inmate began to set a second fire, which the officer extinguished with a fire hose on the unit. Unable to visually see the inmate inside the cell because of the level of smoke, five officers and a sergeant entered the cell and the inmate would not respond. Armed with a protective shield, the first officer entered cell and located the inmate in the recreation pen of the cell. The inmate charged the officers and was pushed back into the pen with the protective shield. The inmate remained combative and struck one officer in the arm before he was put in a body hold and forced to the ground. The inmate continued to resist on the floor and remained combative, fighting with officers, who were able to restrain the inmate’s legs and apply restraints and handcuffs to his wrists. Once in restraints, all forced ceased.
When the inmate was rolled over, he spit blood and saliva on the sergeant and officers, striking them in the torso. Sta maintained the body holds until the inmate became complaint. He was brought to his feet and brought to the infirmary for evaluation.
The sergeant and five officers were evaluated by medical staff at the facility, and it was determined they sustained smoke inhalation and significant blood exposure. All were transported to Cayuga Medical Center for treatment. In addition, two of the officers also sustained knee and arm injuries.
The inmate, 29, is serving 24 years to life sentence after being convicted in Richmond County of Murder 2nd 2024 in connection with the stabbing death of his roommate in 2022.
“Last month at Five Points, eleven officers needed to be treated at a local hospital for smoke inhalation because of an inmate intentionally setting fire to his cell. Now a month later, a supervisor and five officers suffered the same fate. Smoke inhalation can be deadly and cause permanent lung damage, and although recently we’ve been reading that lawmakers believe our incidents are not serious, we don’t see them subjected to smoke inhalation or blood spat in their faces. How would they feel if that happened to them? What would they tell their children when they arrive home? Every time an inmate attacks and injures sta that results with them being out of duty for an extended period, it creates additional sta ing shortages and forces further mandatory overtime to fill those roles. While the legislators are sitting down with their families enjoying Thanksgiving many of our members aren’t afforded that luxury. Most are forced to work, away from their families caring for the convicts because of the legislators refuse to address the current record-breaking violence and staff shortages. Maybe they should start addressing how many lives our members save instead of using convicts to further their political agendas, our lives depend on it. Then again, our members know how underappreciated they are and that it’s abundantly clear to us that nobody in the majority of government cares if they lived or died protecting their communities!”-stated Kenny Gold, NYSCOPBA Western Region Vice President.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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