OSSINING – Two officers sustained minor injuries when an inmate allegedly threw hot cooking oil and food on them from his cell two floors above.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, December 10 a about 6:36 p.m. and was reported by the New York State Corrections Officers PBA.
The two officers were standing near the front gate of the cell block when they were showered with hot food and cooking oil from a cell above them. Both officers were struck in the face and eyes by the food and oil. They were treated by medical staff at the facility and transported to a local hospital for care. They were later treated and released with injuries that were not serious, the union said.
The inmate in a cell directly above the officers was apparently cooking in the cell and threw the oil and food on them. Staff removed the inmate from the cell and placed him in a special housing unit pending disciplinary charges.
The 44-year-old prisoner is serving a 40-year sentence after being convicted in 2003 in Monroe County of armed robbery, assault and burglary charges. He brutally beat a 61-year-old female bookkeeper at a restaurant during a robbery.
“We are extremely fortunate that the two officers only sustained minor injuries in this attack. They easily could have been seriously burned by the hot oil,” said NYSCOPBA Southern Region Vice President Dave Luther.
“This is an inmate who savagely beat a 61-year-old woman during a robbery and left her with a fractured skull, broken cheekbone, jawbone, fractured ribs, and a collapsed lung,” Luther said. “He obviously has not been rehabilitated during his time in prison. We need strong internal disciplinary measures; and inmates that choose to attack staff must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Short of that our members will continue to be targets,” Luther said.
