Defendant Allegedly Planted Makeshift Weapon in Inmate’s Cell and Falsely Reported Recovering It; Crime Captured on Defendant’s Own Body-Worn Camera
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and NYC Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber today announced that a NYC Department of Correction Officer has been indicted on evidence tampering, falsifying business records and official misconduct charges for allegedly placing a sharp object in an inmate’s cell and then reporting it as recovered contraband. The incident was captured on the Officer’s own body-worn camera, which he unintentionally activated.
District Attorney Clark said, “There have been too many brutal slashings of inmates and staff inside Rikers Island, and for a Correction Officer to allegedly plant a 4-inch, pointed shard of plexiglass in an inmate’s cell and then pretend he found it is unconscionable and absurd.”
DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said, “As charged, this Correction Officer failed to act with the honor and integrity that we expect of those entrusted with the safety and security of persons in custody, when he planted a sharpened piece of plexiglass in an inmate’s cell and falsified records relating to that object, following an incident involving the Officer’s use of force against that inmate. I thank the Department of Correction for uncovering this misconduct and promptly referring it to DOI for further investigation, and the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for its partnership in this important prosecution.
Officer Attorney Clark said the defendant, Dionisio Rosario, 33, a seven-year NYC DOC Officer, was arraigned today on Tampering with Physical Evidence, four counts of first-degree Falsifying Business Records, six counts of second-degree Falsifying Business Records and two counts of Official Misconduct before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Joseph McCormack. The defendant is due back in court on December 19, 2023.
According to the investigation, on April 4, 2023, members of the DOC Emergency Services Unit, including Rosario, were conducting a search inside of Robert N. Davoren Center (“RNDC”) 5 Upper North housing area. During the search, the defendant was involved in a use of force with an inmate.
Following the use of force, the defendant is captured on video surveillance, including his own body worn camera, grasping a sharpened object inside of his right hand, and is seen entering the cell of the person with whom he had the use of force and placing the 4.5-inch piece of sharpened plexiglass underneath a piece of paper by the sink area. The defendant is seen searching other areas of the cell before coming back to the sink area, where he removed the sharpened object from where he had previously planted it. The defendant allegedly stated that he recovered it by the sink area but also stated that it was in the inmate’s hand and gave other false information in four DOC reports.
District Attorney Clark thanked the Department of Investigation. The DOI investigation was conducted by Correction Officer Investigator Anthony Palmer of DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for DOC, under the supervision of Assistant Inspector General Alexandra Caruana, Deputy Inspector General Reginald Barometre, Inspector General Whitney Ferguson, Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives Christopher Ryan and Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Dominick Zarrella.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
