NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Rikers Island Correction Officer was arraigned on Friday after he unintentionally engaged his body cam and filmed himself planting a piece of sharpened plexiglass in an inmate's cell, according to statement from the Bronx District Attorney's Office.
"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," Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said of the incident.
Dionisio Rosario, a seven-year NYC DOC Officer, was conducting a search inside a Rikers housing area on April 4 when he was involved in a scuffle with an inmate, officials said.
Following the use of force the defendant was captured in both surveillance video and his own body-cam footage holding a sharp object and going into the inmate's cell.
The video evidence shows the defendant placing a 4.5-inch piece of sharpened plexiglass under a piece of paper near the inmate's sink.
Rosario is then shown searching other areas of the cell before returning to the sink and removing the plexiglass from where he planted it, according to the district attorney's office.
The defendant allegedly reported that he found the plexiglass by the sink, stated it was in the inmate's hand and gave other false information across four DOC reports, officials said.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark condemned the incident, stating "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."
Rosario, 33, was arraigned on tampering physical evidence, four counts of first-degree falsifying business records, six counts of second-degree falsifying business records and two counts of official misconduct. He is due back in court on Dec. 19.
