RIKERS ISLAND INMATE INDICTED ON ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR BEATING CORRECTION OFFICER UNCONSCIOUS

 

Defendant Kicked Victim in the Head, Slammed Officer’s Head to the Ground

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a Rikers Island inmate has been indicted for Attempted Murder and other charges for the unprovoked attack against a NYC Department of Correction Officer, who was beaten unconscious.

 District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant carried out a brutal unprovoked attack against a DOC Officer, kicking and punching him and slamming his head into a concrete wall. No one should be subjected to these violent acts while on the job. We will seek justice for the victim, who suffered serious injuries.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Rashidi Smith, 31, was arraigned on Attempted Murder in the first and second degree, first-degree Assault, three counts of second degree Assault, third-degree Assault, second-degree Obstructing Governmental Administration, and second-degree Harassment before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Kim M. Parker. Remand was continued and he is due back in court on November 30, 2023.

 According to the investigation, on August 23, 2023, in the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, the defendant became irate and approached the 59-year-old officer, who was at his post, and allegedly punched him multiple times. Smith then grabbed the Officer by the head and neck and slammed his head against a chair and concrete wall multiple times. While the victim was on the floor unconscious, the defendant kicked his head and slammed his head on the ground multiple times. Another Officer and detainee arrived and separated the defendant from the victim with pepper spray. The victim was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital for his injuries. He sustained a laceration and hematoma to the back of his head, and needed a neck brace. He also could not feel his fingers on his right hand and left arm.

  District Attorney Clark thanked Trial Preparation Assistant Jordy Burgos and Community Coordinator Lourdes Galindez, both of the Rikers Island Prosecution Bureau, for their assistance in the investigation. District Attorney Clark also thanked the Department of Correction Intelligence Bureau, specifically Investigators Daniel Monaco, Jeffrey Rios and Walter Holmes.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.