Female Victim Knocked Unconscious; Hospitalized for a Week
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Rikers Island inmate was sentenced for assaulting a New York City Department of Correction Officer at Rikers Island.
District Attorney Clark said, “This defendant struck the Officer from behind with such force that it rendered her unconscious, causing her to fall face first on the floor. She suffered serious injuries to her head and face and spent many months at home recuperating before she was cleared to return to duty. The seven-year sentence imposed on this defendant sends a clear message that attacks on Correction Officers will be met with a vigorous prosecution.”
District Attorney Clark said defendant Robert Ray, 35, was sentenced on July 23, 2026, to seven years in prison with five years of post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Darlene Goldberg. On March 18, 2026, Ray pleaded guilty to Assault on a Peace Officer, Police officer, firefighter or emergency services personnel.
New York City Department of Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards said, “Violence against a correction officer cannot, and will not, be tolerated. I extend my gratitude to the Bronx District Attorney for her work on this case promoting accountability for this attack and thank our staff in the Correction Intelligence Bureau for their work on the investigation. The Department will spare no effort to ensure that our members of service are safe.”
According to the investigation, on February 8, 2025, at 6:18pm in the Otis Bantum Correctional Center Mess Hall in Rikers Island, the Correction Officer was on post supervising the inmates as they were eating dinner. The defendant is seen on video seated at a table amongst other inmates in the mess hall. Ray got up from the table and walked directly over to the victim, whose back was turned. Without warning, Ray rears back and swings a closed fist pummeling the Correction Officer in the head. The force of the blow knocked her unconscious and she fell forward onto the mess hall floor striking her face on the hard floor. She was carried out of harm’s way by her fellow officers, still unconscious, and transported via ambulance to the hospital where she received emergency treatment for head and facial trauma. She remained hospitalized for a week for treatment and recovery from her head, facial, and eye trauma. More than a year passed until she was cleared to return to work.
District Attorney Clark thanked Department of Corrections Central Intelligence Bureau Investigators Paul Smith, Nathaniel Williamson, Lakeisha White, Ayana Jackson, Walter Holmes and Jeffery Rios for their work in the investigation.
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