FISHKILL – A State Department of Corrections sergeant was attacked by an inmate at Fishkill Correctional Facility on Saturday afternoon. The officer was transported to Vassar Brothers Medical Center with a head injury.
Sources told Mid-Hudson News that the officer found an inmate smoking in a bathroom and confronted him. The inmate was ordered to place his arms on the wall to be searched. When the sergeant began to search the felon, the inmate turned and struck the officer in the head then attempted to flee the scene.
A fellow corrections officer indicated that a rule change that favors the inmate population is putting the officers’ lives at risk. “We are not allowed to force an inmate to comply unless they hit us first,” said the officer, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Our lives are being put further at risk by rule changes like this. The state is allowing inmates to hit us.”
Additional officers came to the aid of their colleague, while others secured the inmate.
