5 jail guards convicted of beating inmate after staredown
Source: Associated Press
5 jail guards convicted of beating inmate after staredown
Michael Balsamo, Associated Press
Updated 8:27 pm, Tuesday, June 7, 2016
NEW YORK (AP) — A former chief at the city's notorious Rikers Island jail complex and four of his underlings were convicted of felony charges Tuesday after authorities said they beat an inmate at the chief's behest because the man had stared him down during a search of his cell.
Former Assistant Chief for Security Eliseo Perez and the four officers were convicted of attempted gang assault and other charges in connection with the June 11, 2012, attack on inmate Jahmal Lightfoot.
Perez retired from his position in 2013. The officers — Alfred Rivera, Tobias Parker, Jose Parra and David Rodriguez — remain on modified duty Tuesday, officials said. A sixth officer, Jeffrey Richard, who prosecutors said aided in covering up the attack, was found not guilty.
Prosecutors said the altercation with Lightfoot started when the officers conducted a contraband search, patting down inmates, tossing over mattresses and rifling around cells for prohibited items. They said that during the search Lightfoot locked eyes with Perez. Angered by the stare-down, Perez shouted out to a captain and five officers that Lightfoot "thinks he's tough" and should be beaten, prosecutors said.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/5-NYC-jail-guards-convicted-of-felonies-for-7968816.php
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Former Assistant Chief for Security Eliseo Perez, white shirt, on the right.
"Perez shouted out to a captain and five officers that Lightfoot "thinks he's tough" and should be beaten, prosecutors said."
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