NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A Rikers Island inmate was indicted on charges she punched a correction officer in the face, causing a “deep gash” that required stitches, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The inmate, Rosita Sanders, 44, of the Bronx, was arraigned Tuesday in Bronx Supreme Court on charges of assault and obstructing government administration, according to the Bronx district attorney.
“The defendant allegedly struck the Officer twice in the face, opening a deep gash above her eye,” Bronx D.A. Darcel Clark said. “The unprovoked assault on the officer while she was doing her job--she had broken up a fight between the defendant and another inmate--is intolerable.”
According to prosecutors, the correction officer had separated Sanders and another inmate during an altercation at the Rose M. Singer Center Women’s Facility on Nov. 15 shortly before she was sucker-punched.
While the officer was speaking with a fellow officer about the incident, Sanders allegedly punched her twice in the face with a closed fist, causing a deep laceration above her eye that required six stitches, prosecutors said.
Bail was set at $1, though Sanders is currently jailed on a separate case out of Manhattan, the D.A.’s office said. She’s due back in court Dec. 23.
The Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, which represents city correction officers, reacted to the indictment in a statement: "Without meaningful consequences for committing violent crimes in jail, assaultive inmates will continue to jeopardize the safety of everyone in our facilities. We demand the Judge in this case impose a consecutive sentence for this assailant and for any inmate who assaults our officers."