CITY CORRECTION OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTING TO KICK A PERSON IN CUSTODY WHO WAS RESTRAINED BY OTHERS

 

Jocelyn E. Strauber, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced the arrest and guilty plea of a Correction Officer with the City Department of Correction (“DOC”) in connection with attempting to kick a restrained Person in Custody (“PIC”) in Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward in May 2024. The incident was captured on surveillance video. The Office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is prosecuting the case. 

CAROL GARCIA, 54, was arrested and charged with Attempted Assault in the Third Degree, a class B misdemeanor, and Harassment in the Second Degree, a violation. The defendant pleaded to both counts as part of a plea agreement. Pursuant to that agreement, the defendant must complete 10 days of community service, attend all court appearances and not be arrested for the next six months. If the defendant successfully fulfills these obligations, the prosecution will ask that the court allow the defendant to withdraw her guilty plea to Attempted Assault in the Third Degree and she will be sentenced to time served for the Harassment offense.

DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said, “There is no excuse for this defendant, or any Correction Officer, to attempt to assault a person in custody. The victim here was restrained at the time that the defendant tried to kick him, and did not pose a threat to her. Correction Officers face violence on the job, and other tremendous challenges, as this defendant did, but that cannot justify her attempted use of force. I thank the City Department of Correction for its cooperation during this investigation and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for its partnership on this investigation and prosecution.”

According to the plea agreement, and as the defendant admitted at the plea proceeding, at approximately 3:20 p.m. on May 6, 2024, while GARCIA was assigned as a Correction Officer at the Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward (“BHPW”), PIC Ramon Rivera (“Rivera”) approached GARCIA, struck her in the leg with his foot and smacked her across the face. BHPW staff, assisted by other inmates, immediately pulled Rivera away from GARCIA, restrained him, and pinned him on the floor. GARCIA approached Rivera, pulled back her right foot, and kicked at Rivera, intending to cause Rivera physical injury and to harass him.

GARCIA has been employed by DOC since November 2005 and receives an annual base salary of approximately $101,590.

Commissioner Strauber thanked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his staff for their prosecution of this matter; and DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie and her staff for their cooperation in this investigation.