STORMVILLE – Eight police officers were injured at Green Haven Correctional Facility when four inmates attacked staff. The attack lasted several minutes before officers were able to stop the violent assault. Two officers had to be taken to Vassar Brothers Medical Center for treatment of injuries inflicted by inmates, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
On Wednesday, July 31, an officer attempted to restrain an inmate in his cell when another inmate approached the officer and assumed an aggressive stance. The inmate ignored the officer’s orders to back away, grabbed the officer and tackled him to the ground. While on the ground, the inmate struck the officer several times in the head. He managed to climb on top of the officer and continue to strike him.
A second officer responded to the attack and sprayed pepper spray on the inmate, to no avail. A third officer arrived and the three officers were able to force the inmate’s arms behind his back and handcuff him.
The inmate, who was initially held in his cell, then joined in the attack, kicking one of the officers in the head twice. OC spray was administered, to no effect. The inmate grabbed the lid of a garbage can and attempted to strike another officer. When additional staff arrived, the inmate retreated to his cell and secured the cell gate.
A third and fourth inmate also participated in the attack. One inmate punched an officer in the head and the second inmate grabbed a female police officer by the arms and tried to take the OC spray from her. Both inmates were restrained with body holds and officers eventually handcuffed them.
During the attack on staff, one of the inmates involved pushed an officer at the end gate of the cell block out of the way, ripping the gate out of her hands. The four inmates were removed from the cell block and placed in special housing units (SHU) pending disciplinary action.
The officer initially attacked sustained injuries to his head, face and shoulder. A second officer sustained a wrist injury with limited mobility. Both officers were transported to the medical center and did not return to duty. Six other officers who responded to the attack were treated by facility medical staff for shoulder, hand, knee, back and elbow injuries. All of them remained on duty following the attack.
Six days before the July 31 attack, six inmates were placed in special housing after five inmates ganged up on a single inmate on their way back from the recreation yard and began beating him. Officers used OC spray several times to stop the violent attack. The spray had no effect and additional officers had to intervene. Another round of OC spray was administered and stopped three of the inmates from fighting. Staff used body holds on the remaining combative inmates and the fight was broken up. No staff were injured during the fight.
“Unless staffing levels are increased, attacks on officers like Wednesday’s will continue. Two of the inmates involved in the attack have served multiple sentences in state prisons and know that, given the weakened disciplinary system, there is no real punishment for attacks on staff,” said Joe Horacek, vice president of the New York State Correction Officers PBA (NYSCOPBA) for the Mid-Hudson region. “The system is broken, and unless adequate resources are provided, attacks like this will continue in prisons across the state. Closing prisons will not solve the problem; in fact, it will only make an already dangerous work environment even worse.”
