Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a former Department of
Correction Captain has been sentenced for beating a Rikers Island inmate in 2016, and for lying
about the incident in official paperwork.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant, a former DOC Captain, severely beat an
inmate in the Eric M. Taylor Center in Rikers Island, leaving him with multiple bruises and
several broken teeth. The defendant then lied about the incident in paperwork, to cover up his
actions.”
District Attorney Clark said Sandy Arkhurst, 44, of Queens, pleaded guilty to seconddegree Assault, first-degree Falsifying Business Records and Official Misconduct on October 2,
2019. As part of the Court’s plea agreement, the defendant also resigned from DOC. Arkhurst
was sentenced to five years’ probation and 200 hours of community service by Bronx Supreme
Court Justice Robert Neary. The People had requested a sentence of one to three years in prison.
According to the investigation, on June 3, 2016, the defendant, leader of the Probe Team,
and other DOC Officers, responded to the Eric M. Taylor Center after the victim, Rodolfo
Rodriguez, 18, an inmate at the time, refused to enter his housing area. Rodriguez was peppersprayed by another Officer and taken to the shower area to wash it off. While Rodriguez was
rear-cuffed, Arkhurst punched and kicked him, and hit him with a wooden baton. After the
beating, Arkhurst falsified information in a DOC Use of Force Report regarding the incident.
He also failed to provide medical aid to the inmate, who had sustained multiple injuries.
District Attorney Clark also thanked DOC Investigations Division Investigator Damon
Storer; and the New York City Department of Investigation, specifically DOI Assistant Inspector
General Mercedes Bayon and Assistant Inspector General Sony Fortune, under the supervision
of Inspector General Dana A. Roth, Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Dominick
Zarrella, and First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Cort.
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