STORMVILLE- A 31-year-old inmate serving his second stint in prison for weapons possession injured a corrections officer when he picked up a dumbbell and threw it at the officer at the maximum-security correctional facility last weekend.
According to officers, on Saturday, April 8th at approximately 10:45 a.m. an inmate entered a housing unit at the facility from the recreation yard. He was carrying a 25-pound dumbbell from the yard and threw it at an officer. The officer blocked the dumbbell from hitting him in the upper body. A second officer on the unit immediately called for a response. After throwing the dumbbell, the inmate immediately ran and sat down at one of the tables in the housing unit.
When the response team arrived at the unit and removed the inmate.
The officer, who was injured by the dumbbell, was treated by medical staff at the facility and transported to Vassar Brothers Medical Center. He did not return to duty.
The inmate is serving a 12-year sentence after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon 2nd in Dutchess County in 2019. Previously, he served a five-year sentence for attempted criminal possession of a weapon 2nd in 2013.
Chris Moreau, Mid-Hudson Region Vice President for the New York State Correction Officers Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) had hash words for a set of prison reforms enacted about one year ago in the state that severely limit, and in some cases prohibit, the use of segregated housing for inmates, known as the HALT Act.
“The HALT Act just passed the one-year mark with disastrous results,” said Moreau. “Inmate-on-staff violence increased a shocking 33 percent from the previous year and there are no signs that the violence is going to slow down. Cities across this country are plagued with increased street violence as a result of progressive criminal justice policies and calls for defunding the police. It is no different inside our state correctional facilities.”
Moreau and NYSCOPBA are calling on the state legislature and Governor Hochul to fully repeal the HALT Act in light of the recent jump in violence in state-operated correctional facilities.
“The HALT Act, pushed and supported by progressive State Legislators, has had a dreadful impact on inmate violence against staff as well as other inmates. The safety of our facilities is in severe jeopardy,” added Moreau.
Moreau questioned the extent to which prison violence must escalate before officials take action.
“The attack on the officer at Green Haven last Saturday could have been deadly if the dumbbell the inmate threw had struck the officer in the head. What will it take for those legislators to wake up? Have an officer killed at the hands of an inmate? Sadly, I am not even sure if that occurred it would cause the legislators to change their ineffective policies and that is infuriating for all of us,” said Moreau.
