(WSYR-TV) — Two officers and a sergeant were injured at Marcy Correctional Facility on Thursday, August 18. During the incident, an inmate bit one officer and fought with staff who were trying to take contraband that the inmate had hidden on him, New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, Inc. (NYSCOPBA) says.
According to the NYSCOPBA, during the incident, an officer was assigned to one of the dorm buildings and ordered the inmate to submit to a pat down. First, the officer felt something inside of the inmate’s pants, and the inmate was put into handcuffs and taken to the frisk area of the gymnasium.
The handcuffs were taken off the inmate to finish the pat down and once it was done, he reached into his underwear and grabbed an unknown object. One of the officers then grabbed the inmate’s hand and the inmate was able to get the officer’s hand close to his mouth and bite him in the hand.
The officer was able to break free and the inmate tried to run out of the gymnasium with the contraband still in his hand. Staff then grabbed the inmate and put him up against the wall. The inmate then was on the floor and began trying to kick staff, trying to swallow the object in his hand. OC spray was then administered with no effect.
After more staff came to assist in the gymnasium, the inmate was out under control, handcuffs were applied and the inmate became compliant.
NYSCOPBA says the inmate was taken from the gymnasium and brought to the infirmary for evaluation and decontamination.
Staff then recovered a razor blade that was attached to a pen barrel that the inmate dropped on the gymnasium floor.
The inmate was placed in a Special Housing Unit pending disciplinary charges after the attack and is serving a 15-year sentence after being convicted in Schenectady County in 2013 for Assault 1st and Assult 2nd. He was convicted after he shot a man following a robbery attempt in 2013 and he also assaulted a county corrections officer while in jail for the shooting and robbery, NYSCOPBA says.
The injured officers and sergeant were treated by facility medical staff. The officer who was bit had a punctured wound to his hand and was taken to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital for treatment.
The second officer and sergeant were treated for knee, hip, ankle, and elbow injured and remained on duty.
“The stark reality is that medium security prisons like Marcy have become just as dangerous as maximum security facilities with the disciplinary system completely watered down, said Bryan Hluska, NYSCOPBA Central Region Vice President. “We have passed the halfway point of 2022 and assaults on staff continue to skyrocket towards record levels with no relief in sight. This is a direct result of the legislature passing the ill-advised HALT Act. Until the legislators who supported ACT recognize its failure and the need to repeal or alter it dramatically, the violence will continue.”
