Jocelyn E. Strauber, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), issued a statement on the conviction of a Correction Officer with the City Department of Correction (“DOC”) on charges of planting a makeshift weapon in a jail cell after a use of force incident involving a person in custody in that cell, and then falsely reporting the recovery of the planted makeshift weapon. The crime was captured on the defendant’s body-worn camera as well as video surveillance. DOI investigated the matter with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case.
DIONISIO ROSARIO, 34, of Wantagh, N.Y., was convicted of one count of Tampering with Physical Evidence and four counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, which are all class E felonies; and one count of Official Misconduct, which is a class A misdemeanor. The defendant is due back in court for sentencing on September 29, 2025.
DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said, “Falsifying records and evidence tampering are serious offenses and wholly unacceptable conduct for a law enforcement officer responsible for safety and order in the City’s jails. Today’s conviction holds the defendant accountable for his crimes and misuse of his position. I thank the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for its partnership on this important investigation.”
According to the indictment and DOI’s investigation, the defendant was involved in a use of force incident with a person in custody during a search of the Robert N. Davoren Center (“RNDC”) 5 Upper North housing area. Following the use of force, the defendant is captured on video surveillance, including his own body-worn camera, grasping a sharpened object inside his right hand, entering the cell of the person in custody against whom he used force, and placing a 4.5-inch piece of sharpened plexiglass underneath a piece of paper by the sink area. The defendant is then seen searching other areas of the cell before coming back to the sink area, where he removed the sharpened object from the location where he previously planted it. The defendant falsely stated he recovered the sharpened object by the sink area and provided other false information in four DOC reports.
ROSARIO began employment at DOC in December 2016 and has been suspended without pay since his October 2023 arrest. At the time of his suspension he was receiving an annual salary of approximately $92,000.
Commissioner Strauber thanked Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and her staff for their prosecution of this matter; and DOC Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, and her staff, for their cooperation in this investigation.
