Bronx DA: NYC DOC Officers Indicted for Attempting To Cover Up Assault on Inmate by Correction Officer

NYC DOC OFFICERS INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTING TO COVER UP ASSAULT ON INMATE BY CORRECTION OFFICER

Defendants Allegedly Filed False Reports

District Attorney Clark said, “We must hold Correction Officers to a high standard. These defendants violated the trust put in them by allegedly filing false instruments about an officer’s  assault on an inmate. Just as the alleged violence will not be tolerated, neither will the coverup, especially in this turbulent time in Rikers Island.”

DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said, “As alleged, these City Correction Officers concealed misconduct and sought to protect another Correction Officer by omitting key facts from use of force reports. The integrity of City Correction Officers is paramount and like all law enforcement they have an obligation to complete official documents accurately, consistent with their agency’s rules. DOI and its law enforcement partners will hold accountable those who fail to do so. I thank the Bronx District Attorney for their prosecution of this matter and the City Department of Correction for its assistance.”

District Attorney Clark said defendants Carl Williams, 31, Roy Dewar, 58, and Jatan Das, 64, were arraigned today on first-degree Falsifying Business Records, first-degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing, second-degree Falsifying Business Records, second-degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing, and Official Misconduct; and Williams was additionally charged with third-degree Assault, before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George R. Villegas. The defendants are due back in court on April 19, 2023.

According to the investigation, at approximately 6:15 a.m. on October 14, 2021, inside the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, Williams entered a housing area and began speaking with an inmate who was standing with his hands to his sides when Williams was allegedly observed on surveillance video striking the man in the face and taking a fighting stance. Das and Dewar both allegedly observed the assault. The investigation found that the defendants allegedly submitted reports to the Department of Correction claiming the inmate was the aggressor and that use of force was justified.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Cassie Perez and Aja Espinosa of the Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Omer Wiczyk, Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division, and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, Chief of the Investigations Division.

District Attorney Clark thanked Trial Preparation Assistant Lakora Sarkodie of the Public Integrity Bureau for her assistance in the case.

District Attorney Clark also thanked the DOI Inspector General for the Department of Correction, specifically Assistant Inspector General Alexandra Caruana under the supervision of Inspector General Whitney Ferguson, Deputy Commissioner/Chief of Investigations Dominick Zarrella and First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Cort.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.